Scott Baio may have some receipts, but Nicole Eggert has Megyn Kelly.
The 46-year-old actress has given her first TV interview since coming forward with sexual misconduct claims against her Charles in Charge costar, making a point to explain why she “covered up” the alleged abuse for years.
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Speaking on Tuesday’s Megyn Kelly Today, Eggert recalled “immediately” being befriended by Baio during her days starring on the 1986 sitcom where, she claimed, their relationship quickly turned sexual.
Eggert claimed the first time Baio took advantage of her was in his garage when she was just 14 years old (the age of consent in California is 18, and Baio is 11 years her senior). She remembered:
“Then he started expressing his love for me and talking about marriage in the future. Before my 15th birthday, we were at his house ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ in his car in his garage ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ and he reached over and he penetrated me with his finger and that is when the sexual touching and abuse started, after that.”
Eggert told Kelly that the alleged abuse happened “quite often… probably once a week” when she was an underage teenager, claiming other Charles in Charge cast members witnessed a lot of “groping, a lot of fondling, a lot of [Baio] pulling me on his lap, trying to sneak kisses on the back.”
She also alleged that during this time, Baio pressured her to keep quiet about their illegal tryst:
“The issue with him is that he was our boss. He also was telling me, ‘You can’t tell anybody, this is illegal, I’ll go to jail. The show will be over. Everybody will be sued. You’ll be out of a job. You’ll ruin everybody’s life.’ It’s scary. That’s intimidating, especially when you’re that young.”
She told Kelly the first time she and Baio had sex was when she was 17, one year under the age of consent in California.
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Baio addressed Eggert’s accusations in a 16-minute long Facebook Live video, in which he set out to “prove her claims are 100 percent lies.” Baio said that Eggert first made claims against him back in 2012 when she was promoting reality shows, and noted she has previously called their relationship a lot more “innocent” than people perceive it to be.
It’s important to note that Eggert, who briefly dated Baio in the 1980s, acknowledges she was a “willing participant” in the abuse; but she also stresses there was a lot of “manipulation” coming from her alleged abuser, again — a man 11 years her senior.
What do you think about this case? Watch Eggert’s full interview (below) and see what she has to say.
[Image via NBC.]
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