Gold Logie Winner Craig McLachlan Has Been Accused Of Indecent Assault
The veteran actor has been accused by multiple women.
This story discusses sexual assault.
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Gold Logie-winning actor Craig McLachlan has been accused by multiple women of indecent assault, harassment and bullying.
According to an explosive report by Fairfax Media and the ABC, two of McLachlan’s female co-stars from the 2014 stage production of Rocky Horror Show have filed reports with Victoria police. Erika Heynatz and Angela Scundi allege that the veteran television and theatre star harassed a number of actresses in the show, touching their genitals, groping their breasts, exposing himself and pressing his penis against them.
“He’s really calculated and very manipulative, a predator,” Heynatz told Fairfax.
In an email to Fairfax, McLachlan, best known for his work on Neighbours, Home and Away and The Doctor Blake Mysteries, vehemently denied any wrongdoing. “These allegations are ALL made up,” he said. “They seem to be simple inventions, perhaps made for financial reasons, perhaps to gain notoriety.”
McLachlan has also been accused by prominent musical actress Christie Whelan Browne, who is currently starring in the stage version of Muriel’s Wedding. Whelan Browne alleges that McLachlan indecently assaulted her on stage during a sex scene in which she was covered by a sheet and only visible to the audience from the shoulders up. The script called for McLachlan to kiss her neck before disappearing beneath the sheet.
“One night when he turned me around, he pulled my undies up so my bum cheek was out and he was kissing my bum,” Whelan Browne alleges. “There is nothing I can do. I am stuck. There’s 2000 people watching me and can’t see him.”
“As the tour went on he would say he could see my vagina through my white underpants — that was my costume — and he said that he could see the slit of my vagina and that he could smell it and it smells sweet,” she added.
Scundi alleges that McLachlan made inappropriate comments about her breasts, exposed himself to her in his dressing room, pressed his penis against her body through his boxer shorts, and forced his tongue into her mouth during a kissing scene when she was filling in for another actress. She also alleges that when they left the stage and she asked not to be kissed like that again, he threatened her.
“You are nothing! Don’t you dare talk to me like that. I will end you,” McLachlan is alleged to have said.
“In that moment, I believed him,” Scundi told Fairfax.
Heynatz alleges that McLachlan kissed her without her permission, and that she witnessed him groping another actress. She also says she began to suffer from anxiety as a result of working with him.
McLachlan’s accusers say they raised the issue of his alleged behaviour with the show’s production company, the Gordon Frost Organisation (GFO), but were ultimately ignored. They also claim that the production crew witnessed McLachlan acting inappropriately but failed to intervene. GFO declined to provide comment to Fairfax, but maintained through legal letters that it has always provided a workplace “free of bullying or unlawful harassment”.
According to Heynatz, the reason she didn’t come forward sooner was that she didn’t think she would be believed. “We were replaceable,” she said. “That’s the disgusting thing about it. We all feel as though our voice isn’t enough, we’re not important enough, we don’t earn enough money.”
She says she changed her mind in the wake of the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. “When the Harvey Weinstein story broke I started to get … terrible anxiety that was keeping me up at night … my heart punching through my chest day and night.”
Heynatz, Scundi and Whelan Browne subsequently reconnected and after sharing their stories decided to act.
“We all decided … the time is now and it has to be done and then perhaps now we will be taken seriously,” said Scundi, adding that she hoped “other people will have the opportunity to actually come forward and be heard as well.”
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If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
Men can access anonymous confidential telephone counselling to help to stop using violent and controlling behaviour through the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.