Craig McLachlan leaves Rocky Horror Show in Adelaide over sexual misconduct allegations
Staff writers, News Corp Australia Network
an hour ago
CRAIG McLachlan is leaving
The Rocky Horror Show in Adelaide over explosive allegations he “abused, harassed and assaulted” several former female co-stars.
The acclaimed Australian actor has vigorously denied detailed claims he indecently assaulted, sexually harassed, bullied and exposed himself to female co-stars.
“These allegations are all made up ... utterly and entirely false,” he said — as one of his accusers said working with McLachlan left her “a shell of myself, completely broken”.
The show’s producers, the Gordon Frost Organisation (GFO) issued a statement on Monday afternoon that they had “mutually agreed” it was not appropriate for McLachlan to continue with his role as Dr Frank-N-Furter, but all performances would continue as scheduled.
McLachlan — best known for his roles in
The Doctor Blake Mysteries,
Neighbours and
Home & Away — reportedly said in an email to Fairfax Media the claims are “baseless” and “they seem to be simple inventions, perhaps made for financial reasons, perhaps to gain notoriety”.
McLachlan, 52, performed in Adelaide on Sunday night but no performance was scheduled for Monday.
Craig McLachlan stars as Lucien Blake in
The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
GFO’s statement today, which referred to their initial legal letter saying the allegations were potentially defamatory, said:
“In order to clarify media reports, we wish to state that we were not aware of any details of these allegations until they were published in the media today. We received correspondence from a law firm shortly before Christmas, however this contained no details of the claims or the claimants. The response from our lawyers was based on this lack of information and was not in any way directed at the women who have come forward and made these allegations.
“We can also confirm that our records show the claimants at no time made any complaint - formal or informal - to the company manager or executive producer of
The Rocky Horror Show in 2014. Furthermore no one at GFO recalls any verbal discussion of this nature. It would be distressing to us if anyone within our company was dismissive of sexual assault allegations, and this will form a part of our internal investigation.”
Fairfax Media and the ABC reported on Monday that a number of McLachlan’s female cast members in the 2014 theatre production of
The Rocky Horror Show alleged they were abused, harassed or assaulted by the star.
The reports quote actors Erika Heynatz, Angela Scundi and Christie Whelan Browne making specific allegations about McLachlan’s conduct, claiming he repeatedly breached boundaries of acceptable workplace behaviour both during performances and backstage.
Some of the actors have also made a formal complaint to police.
Christie Whelan Browne (Janet), Tim Maddren (Brad) and Craig McLachlan (Frank-N-Furter) during the 2014 show. Picture: Jeff Busby
Christie Whelan Browne played Janet opposite McLachlan during the show’s 2014 tour.
She said on social media today: “I blamed myself for a long time and I thought I was alone. But when I found out I wasn’t, I knew it was important to try and take a stand. My hope is to spark a change. And change is hard.
“I left that job a shell of myself. Completely broken,” she continued.
“It never felt good going public, but I can assure you, we tried many other avenues first.
“The personal toll in the past two months has been extreme. On me, and these other incredible women. They never faulted.
“I have never in my life felt brave, until now. This was brave. We were brave.”
