Well-known screenwriter and director Max Landis is being accused of sexual abuse and emotional torture, after eight women have now come forward publicly with their allegations.
The screenwriter behind Chronicle and Bright, Landis had been previously accused of sexual misconduct back in 2017 when a group of entertainment industry insiders came forward on social media to allude to his alleged bad behavior — and now, it seems like Landis has a LOT more for which to answer.
Related: Roseanne Barr Calls #MeToo Activists ‘Hoes’!
Things all started when Landis’ ex-girlfriend, Ani Baker, posted a warning about the son of famed director John Landis (National Lampoon’s Animal House, An American Werewolf in London, and Coming to America) on social media. Baker explained how quickly things spread to The Daily Beast, as part of their investigative report on the allegations and aftermath (below):
“Women that I had never heard of who are like, I too was tortured by this person. It gets worse every day. Every story I hear, I’m like, how did I think I knew this person? It’s horrifying. But I just feel like I need to be as honest as possible, since my goal in this is to help other people to not be in the same position.”
Baker isn’t kidding about it getting worse every day, either; as women started coming forward with their own stories of allegedly being manipulated by Landis.
Actress Anna Akana doubled down on Baker’s assertion, too (below):
“And then after I went public there were more people who came to me. There’s too many voices to ignore, and I felt the need to be vocal because Max is intimidating and he’s scary. And I’ve seen, being in that friend group, one of the most frustrating things is that he would lord his power and his money over people and intimidate them into friendship, or into forgiveness.”
Speaking of that friend group… some of the accusers detail being manipulated through the use of The Colour Society, an unofficial group of friends that Landis proudly named himself and, according to the allegations, used to lord power over vulnerable women, hand-pick them for attention, and manipulate them into doing what he wanted.
One woman even called Landis a “cult leader” for his alleged use of the bizarre friendship group to lure vulnerable women who had just moved to Los Angeles and had no friend network in the city. Samantha (name changed to protect the innocent in the story) explained the draw of The Colour Society for those who just moved to L.A. (below):
“I think he really does operate sort of as a cult leader. Here’s someone with a lot of resources and power and glamour, and he’s surrounding himself with people, basically kids who just moved to L.A. from who knows where, who don’t have a network. He swoops in, and like a predator, he knows how to hook a person. He just sort of wears you down. He’s that persistent. He sees something shiny and he wants it. He’s like, I have to have it. He would systematically try to have sex with all the women I knew. We’re not people to him.”
One woman lured in claims Landis would pretend to hit her, then laugh when she flinched. Another accuser alleges the director fat-shamed her relentlessly. Other accusations from those who came forward include being forced to do humiliation porn, being held down and choked against their will, and worst yet, allegedly raped by the screenwriter/director. Julie (name changed) alleges Landis’ tactics were so smooth and manipulative, she didn’t actually know what was happening for several years (below):
“He trusted that we wouldn’t ever say anything, worked actively to discredit people who were saying things, and was just as consistent in the abuse as he was with covering it up and manipulating us afterwards. I didn’t realize that I had been raped consistently and deliberately by this man for two years until today, when I wrote it down.”
Wow… and it goes on.
Julie explained more about the emotional abuse she allegedly suffered at Landis’ hands, in her own statement to the publication (below):
“[Landis would] constantly threaten to break up with me, speak about his ‘prospects’ to me and openly flirt in front of me. On multiple occasions he’d refer to me as his ex-girlfriend in front of girls at parties we’d go to together as a couple. He’d openly critique my body in front of people and tell me privately that I had the potential to be ‘so hot’ if I committed to working out more. He’d graphically describe sex with his ex-girlfriends and rate their abilities compared to mine, both to me and to his friends and work associates. He showed me abuse and humiliation porn and constantly tested my boundaries—this became murkier and murkier as our relationship got more tumultuous, as I grew to view sex with him as the only way to receive love and connect. This lead to me allowing myself to become more and more abused. He claimed that seeing me cry was a turn-on—this later turned into a routine of him yelling and humiliating me until I cried, then having sex with me while I continued to cry with no regard or effort to make things right. He’d instigate fights, belittle and upset me, just so he could have sex with me, and the real, legitimate fights ended the same way. He choked me until I passed out and did humiliating, degrading things to me that I still can’t manage to write out on paper. He continued to violate my boundaries into even after our relationship, and if any of this still feels like a blurred lines scenario let me assure you that he did hold me down and rape me while I said ‘no’ over and over. Afterwards I punched him in the shoulder and I told him, ‘When someone says no, you’re supposed to stop. What you just did is what they call rape.’ He said he thought we were playing a game, and that I liked it. He didn’t care.”
Terrible!!!
Landis himself has yet to respond to this new set of allegations.
To read the entire piece in The Daily Beast, click HERE.
[Image via WENN]
Related Posts
