You ever wonder why people in positions of power get away with sexual misconduct? It’s because a system is in place to protect them. And a beloved ’90s movie star is now spilling all about the time he tried, nearly two decades before #MeToo, to blow the whistle on some bad guys.
Daniel Stern — who you know as Marv, one of the Wet Bandits from Home Alone — tried to do the right thing when he found out a director and actor were sexually harassing female employees on set. But instead of real change, he was the one who got punished! Just for speaking up!
Related: Megan Thee Stallion Responds To Former Employee’s Harassment Lawsuit With FIERY Denial!
The 66-year-old actor recalled the shocking story in his new memoir Home And Alone. Daniel says he was excited to star alongside Jeremy Piven in a CBS sitcom called Partners in 1999. Brett Ratner was signed on to direct the pilot. And at first, he had high hopes for the series:
“They offered me a boatload of money, made me an executive producer… they had a big-name director, Brett Ratner and we cast great actors, including Jeremy Piven.”
However, his excitement for the project quickly went away once they began filming the pilot episode. During that time, several women told him “Brett and Jeremy were sexually harassing them, and they were afraid.” Frankly that’s very much in line with things we heard about both men — just way down the line. Daniel informed the other executive producers about the women’s allegations and allegedly was advised “to just keep quiet about it” as they “would handle it.” But they didn’t “handle” anything…
Later, the Rookie of the Year director was called into a meeting with the head honchos at Columbia TV about the matter. Instead of being concerned for the women on set, Daniel claims they were annoyed with him for bringing up the accusations against Jeremy and Brett! The bosses at Columbia TV told him they thought the show would get picked up and didn’t want a sexual harassment controversy to hurt those chances.
What the f**k! A sitcom is not more important than the safety of the women on set! Yet they didn’t seem to care about anything other than getting this show on air — their wallets, in other words. In fact, they were so determined to make the show happen they threatened Daniel with a lawsuit if he continued to speak about the harassment claims! When he went to leave the meeting, he claimed a producer shouted at him:
“Don’t you say a f**king word to anyone, or we’ll sue you!”
Daniel noted he was specifically told not to tell then-CEO of CBS Les Moonves. But days before the network’s lineup was revealed, an enraged producer called the Wonder Years star, falsely accusing him of leaving a message to Moonves about how he wanted to back out of the series. Ultimately, it didn’t matter if he did or didn’t leave the show. Partners didn’t get picked up. As a result, Columbia TV then sued Daniel for $25 million for “sabotaging the show.” So, so awful…
In the end, an arrangement was made — after he spent a boatload of money on attorneys to fight the lawsuit. Daniel ended up returning the paycheck he earned for the show to have the suit dropped. Ugh. So unfair. Reflecting on the situation to Page Six on Sunday, the Diner star said “it was a terrifying experience” for him, adding:
“It was unfathomable what was going on. I felt like I was in quicksand. What started as a wonderful thing, it just turned sour.”
Daniel shared that the ordeal ultimately hurt his career, and made him feel “embarrassed,” and “afraid of the industry”:
“It wore off relatively quickly, but I felt changed.”
Oof. While Daniel still has no clue what happened, he wrote in the memoir:
“Thank God for the MeToo movement. And F**k Brett Ratner, F**k Jeremy Piven, F**k Les Moonves, and F**k that top-level executive at Columbia!”
Say it louder, Daniel! Years later, Jeremy faced multiple accusations of sexual abuse, harassment, and assault. He was fired by Moonves (who coincidentally resigned from CBS in 2028 over allegations of sexual harassment) from the drama Wisdom Of The Crowd. Jeremy denied the allegations, saying they “are absolutely false and completely fabricated.” Meanwhile, six women, including Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge, accused Brett of sexual harassment and misconduct. Melanie Kohler also accused the director of rape.
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via Nicky Nelson/WENN, MEGA/WENN, FayesVision/WENN, 20th Century Studios]
Related Posts
