Two more women are accusing Joel Kramer, one of Hollywood's lead stunt coordinators, with sexual harassment following Eliza Dushku's admission that she was molested.
First Offense
The first accuser is Laura Albert, a stunt woman who worked with Kramer on the movie Virus. She revealed that, while working on the 1999 movie, she invited her 15-year-old sister and a 16-year-old friend on the set where her boss (Kramer) invited the girls to go swimming at his hotel's swimming pool. While there, the stunt coordinator pulled out his penis in front of the girls and said, "You cannot handle this," and began swimming toward them.
Albert's sister immediately got out of the pool, leaving her classmate with the adult.
"My sister ended up leaving and she left her friend there with Joel," the stunt woman recalled. "Joel had sex with the 16-year-old girl. She was 16. He was 39. His room number was 424."
The accuser added that the girls, who are now at their 30s and have families of their own, used the code "424" to talk about the incident.
She said that the 16-year-old classmate of her sister confided in her a month later. Crying, the girl told her that he had sex with her. While they immediately called the police, the authorities could not do anything because the age of consent in North Carolina is 16.
Kramer, who responded with a written letter to Deadline, denied the allegations. He claims that he did not invite the girls to his hotel's swimming pool, but one of them came to his hotel room. He admitted that they fooled around, but no intercourse happened.
"I honestly did not know she was 17. Tattoos, and yes, pretty. When I found out I was devastated," he said. "It bothered me for years. Yes all was consensual."
Second Offense
Another woman who refused to be named said that Kramer assaulted her when she was just starting a career as a stunt woman. At a party years back, she said that she and the stunt coordinator carpooled to the event.
"When I got into Joel's vehicle, instead of driving me to the other place, he drove us up into the hills on the south side of Ventura Boulevard into a quiet residential area," the woman recounted. "He pulled his vehicle over, unzipped his pants, pulled out his penis. He grabbed me by the back of my head and forced my face down onto his penis and came in my mouth."
Kramer called the allegation a fabrication. He added that he never forced himself to anyone.
Eliza's Story
Last week, Dushku revealed in an emotional Facebook post that she was molested by Kramer when she was 12 years old and working in the movie True Lies. Her legal guardian during the time backed her allegations, saying that they reported the stunt coordinator but nothing happened.
James Cameron, the director of the movie, and Jamie Lee Curtis, Dushku's costar, both issued statements condemning the actions of the leading stunt coordinator. Kramer has since been dropped by his agency.
The allegations come three months after dozens of women accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. The event led more women to stand up and expose their assailants.
