Actor Geoffrey Rush denies new #MeToo-inspired claims of “inappropriate” behaviour
By
James Cogan
19 December 2018
Interviews given by actress Yael Stone to both the New York Times and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “7.30” TV program, are being used to once again attack the character of award-winning Australian actor Geoffrey Rush with unsubstantiated allegations of sexual impropriety.
Stone performed in 2010–2011 alongside Rush in a production of the play Diary of a Madman, directed by Neil Armfield. Nearly eight years later, she has gone public with allegations that the famous actor’s relationship with her involved conduct that was “reasonably inappropriate” and incidents that made her feel “uncomfortable.”
Stone’s claims have been made within a definite context.
In November 2017, as a raft of #MeToo allegations of sexual assault or impropriety were being made internationally against prominent men, particularly in the performing arts industry, Rush was accused, in an Australian tabloid newspaper, of having “inappropriately touched” a female co-star during a production of the play King Lear in January 2016.
On the basis of an anonymous and unsubstantiated allegation, Rush was pressured to resign as president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) and his distinguished career was threatened with destruction. He responded by filing a defamation law suit against the owner of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, Rupert Murdoch’s Nationwide News, and the author of the article, journalist Jonathon Moran.
The case was heard and concluded in a Sydney court last month. The actress who was allegedly “inappropriately touched,” was revealed to be Rush’s co-star in the play, Eryn Jean Norvill. Rush’s lawyers…