Oliver Stone on Melissa Gilbert's Claims: It Was a 'Raunchy' Film

Says actors all knew what they were getting into when auditioning for 'no-holds-barred' Doors film
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 22, 2017 7:34 AM CST
Oliver Stone on Melissa Gilbert's Claims: It Was a 'Raunchy' Film
In this June 9, 2009, file photo, actress Melissa Gilbert appears at a New York Borders bookstore to promote her autobiography "Prairie Tail."   (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

Little House on the Prairie actress Melissa Gilbert had a sit-down earlier this week with Andy Cohen in which she alleged director Oliver Stone had sexually harassed her during an audition for his 1991 film The Doors. Gilbert said during her tryout to play Jim Morrison's girlfriend, Stone told her he'd written a "special scene" just for her that involved her begging for sex on her hands and knees. She told Cohen she refused and left the audition in tears, and believed it was his attempt to get back at her for a prior experience where she felt she embarrassed him at a nightclub. Gilbert took to Twitter Monday with a #MeToo tweet, offering thanks to her fans and especially to Cohen "for helping me lift this weight off of my shoulders." But Stone said Tuesday that Gilbert knew what she was getting into, as did "dozens" of other actors.

"It was made clear from the outset that our film was going to be a raunchy, no-holds-barred rock 'n' roll movie," he said in a statement to USA Today. He added that those auditioning were informed they'd be acting out scenes from a script and that his casting director was there through the entire experience "to ensure a safe environment." That casting director, Risa Bramon Garcia, offered her own statement backing up Stone, noting the "challenging" audition process and "provocative material," but also that actors were all there "voluntarily" and that "most actors embraced the challenge." "In my experience, there was no attempt to personally offend any particular actor," she added. Meg Ryan eventually got the part Gilbert had wanted, Deadline notes. (More sexual harassment stories.)

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