There is a real sexual misconduct problem going on that needs to be spoken about now.
While the ousting of Harvey Weinstein indicates there is a change in power dynamics coming, there are still plenty of industry executives who need to be checked for their behavior. Filmmaker Blaise Godbe Lipman made this point in a follow up post to his Me Too declaration on Facebook.
Related: Harvey Weinstein Rants About Conspiracy Theories Against Him
On Monday, Lipman took to social media in order to reveal the sexual assault he allegedly suffered as a teen at the hands of Hollywood agent Tyler Grasham. Initially, Blaise chose not to name his attacker in the post he wrote for the Alyssa Milano-led campaign. However after Grasham, who currently works at The Agency For The Performing Arts, passive aggressively “poked” Blaise out of the blue — he knew he had to speak up!
The industry vet penned online:
“Tyler Grasham, under the pretense of a business meeting regarding potential agency representation at APA Agency, fed me alcohol while I was underage and sexually assaulted me. APA Agency has kept this man employed, working with kid actors. I find it incredibly difficult to believe they do not know of his predatory behavior, using his position within the company to prey on naive kids. Although his power in this biz is no where near Weinstein level, the collective power of agents is massive.”
How awful! And it appears as though Tyler bullied the actor-turned-filmmaker into staying silent about the assault. Blaise added:
“The ‘poke’ reminded me about Tyler’s harassment after the ordeal. He told me I’d never work in this biz. He’d have his friends drunklenly call me and berate me. I didn’t do anything at the time. I was young and desperately wanted acceptance within my industry. His threats felt very real.”
Although Lipman didn’t want to make the Me Too campaign about himself, he realized he needed to share his story as Grasham has been “representing children and teenagers for the last ten years since this happened.” In fact, Grasham reps up-and-comer Finn Wolfhard. You may know the 14-year-old from his roles in Stranger Things and It.
In response to Blaise’s allegations, APA plans to hire a third-party firm to investigate the situation. A spokesperson for the agency noted:
“APA takes these allegations extremely seriously and is investigating this matter.”
However, when asked about Tyler’s current employment status, the rep said APA doesn’t comment on “confidential personnel matters.” *Scoff*
Lipman told The Wrap that he met Grasham when he was only 17 or 18. Apparently, the meeting with Tyler took place in the summer of his 18th birthday in 2007, but he can’t recall if the assault took place before or after his birthday.
The actor first met Tyler at APA’s Beverly Hills office and later joined the executive for dinner where the agent supposedly got the aspiring star “drunk.” According to Lipman, he was assaulted at Grasham’s home after dinner.
Be sure to read Blaise’s full account for yourself (below).
[Image via YouTube.]
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