The makeup artist who accused Carter Oosterhouse of coercing her into oral sex when she worked on his HGTV show Carter Can in 2008 is replying to the host’s contention that they had engaged in a consensual relationship.
Accuser Kailey Kaminsky wrote a new statement after Oosterhouse’s wife, actress Amy Smart, received widespread media attention for a Dec. 17 Instagram post in which she defended her husband, whom she met years after the alleged episode took place.
Smart wrote in her post, referring to the claims against Oosterhouse, “When you are in a CONSENSUAL RELATIONSHIP, then you need to take responsibility for engaging in that and not play victim.”
Kaminsky’s full response is below.
I would first like to acknowledge Amy Smart’s position by saying that I understand and admire her instinct to defend and protect her husband and her family.
However, the fact that Carter is a handsome, well-liked, “good guy” celebrity does not mean that he is not capable of harming others or making poor choices. He should never have propositioned me in the first place. His choice affected my livelihood, as well as my emotional and physical health. After I said no a number of times, he continued to badger me, disrespecting me as well as the boundary that I placed by saying no in the first place. Although I said “no” repeatedly, Carter chose to ignore that. No person in a position of power should ever ask or suggest that an employee or subordinate perform any sexual acts or favors. At NO TIME were the sexual actions between Carter and myself enjoyable, mutual or consensual. I feared for my livelihood, plain and simple.
I was never sexually attracted to Carter, nor did I ever have romantic feelings towards him. Any time that we spent together was always work-related. We did not go on dates, we did not kiss one another, and there was never any sexual interaction between us that didn’t take place in a work environment.
Carter was involved in a serious relationship at the time this took place. I was in a long-term relationship during the majority of my time working on Carter Can and Red Hot and Green, as well. My girlfriend came to the set more than once, and I was very open about the fact that we were together. The fact that Carter “doesn’t recall” my mentioning being a lesbian is beyond me.
I did engage in a relationship with another employee I worked with on set. It followed the end of my previous relationship. It was mutual, it was respectful, it was never serious and it was based on a friendship. That person and I spent nights together, we went out together and we enjoyed each other’s company. We continued our friendship long after we had both moved on with our lives.
I did not report the situation with Carter while it was going on because I believed I would have lost my job. I was invited to move to LA from Denver with the show. I knew no one in LA, and due to the cost of living, I depended on that job to survive. I was so filled with humiliation and shame that it took me a year and a great deal of encouragement from the woman I was dating to report the incident. At that time, my complaint was dismissed with several irrelevant excuses pertaining to the terms of my then-employment and citing a lack of corroboration. People are listening now, and I am simply one of those speaking about my experience.
