‘OITNB’ Star Yael Stone Accuses Geoffrey Rush of Sexual Harassment

Orange Is The New Black star Yael Stone alleges that Geoffrey Rush sexually harassed her on multiple occasions while the two were working on a theater production in 2010. The allegations include Rush exposing himself to Stone, sending her sexually suggestive text messages and spying on her while she was showering. 

Stone is the latest woman to come forward with sexual harassment allegations against Rush. 

In an interview for The New York Times published Sunday, the Australian actress recounted her time working with Rush on the Sydney production of The Diary of a Madman. Stone, who was 25 at the time, said that things were “weird” from the beginning of the rehearsal period and that there were many “strange intimacies in the dressing room” that ranged from the then 59-year-old Rush asking her to remove his contact lenses, asking for help to remove his costume at intermission and joining her uninvited while she napped between the matinee and evening performances. 

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Stone also alleges Rush danced naked in front of her. In another incident, Stone told the Times that Rush held a mirror above the shower cubicle while she was showering. “I remember I looked up to see there was a small shaving mirror over the top of the partition between the showers and he was using it to look down at my naked body,” Stone said.

Stone and Rush also texted a great deal, and that they gradually “became more sexual in nature.”

Stone told the Times she didn’t want to make a fuss about Rush’s behavior as he was the bigger star. “There was no part of my brain considering speaking to anyone in any official capacity. This was a huge star,” she said.

She added: “What were they going to do? Fire Geoffrey and keep me?”

In a statement to the Times, Rush said Stone’s allegations of sexual misconduct “are incorrect and in some instances have been taken completely out of context.” 

“However, clearly Yael has been upset on occasion by the spirited enthusiasm I generally bring to my work. I sincerely and deeply regret if I have caused her any distress. This, most certainly, has never been my intention,” he added. 

Rush is currently suing the publishers of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper and its journalist Jonathon Moran over the articles published last year alleging he sexually harassed his co-star Eryn Jean Norvill during a Sydney Theatre Company production of King Lear in 2015 and 2016.

Norvill alleges that Rush made lewd gestures in her direction, simulated fondling and groping her breasts and regularly made comments or jokes about her involving sexual innuendo. Rush denied the allegations.