Breaking-CBS reached a settlement with an actress in Bull 9.5 million

Link-it was Eliza Dushku. She claims Michael Weatherly behaved inappropriately.

Color me not shocked.

The hell. He didn't know or didn't care that she's LDS?

Why wasn't he fired?

She’s such a delicate flower

CBS was apparently toxic from top to bottom.

Anyone who's watched most of it for the last 20 years shouldn't be surprised, from Moonves to the shit at NCIS and now this.

I was expecting some salacious behavior but apparently Weatherly just said a few crude comments about her...he didn't even touch her or grope her.

She called Weatherly on that, r7, and was fired. Retaliation is a no-no, a $9.5 million no-no.

And Weatherly no doubt learned that shit from Mark Harmon, who probably did the same to Lauren Holly and Pauley Perrette.

An impressive own-goal by CBS' compliance officer:

[quote]Mr. Engstrom handed over outtakes from “Bull” in the belief that they would help the company’s cause, because they showed Ms. Dushku cursing on the set, investigators wrote in the draft of their report.

[quote]The strategy backfired. The outtakes were a “gold mine” for Ms. Dushku, the lawyers wrote, because they “actually captured some of the harassment on film.”

She’s a troublemaker who walks onto someone else’s set and decides to start calling the shots and to be offended by jokes. No one touched her. She deserved to be written off

I've never even heard of this show. She got a great deal - that's a lotta money honey. But there's more to the story here - part of this is some hush money over some other shit went down.

No way would they agree to almost $10 million if there weren't other things involved. And I'm personally glad that these assholes like Moonves are being taken down.

I hope Selma Blair got a payout as well.

R12 here - one sad note - do I think she'll ever work again? Nope - or not easily, that's for sure.

But here's the thing - just wait until women are in charge of more productions and shows. There may not be harrassment charges, but the shit that women will put other women through is breathtaking. They are masters of blocking people out and alienating others for their own personal reasons.

Men have their shit - but women have theirs as well.

R14 Her career has been over for some time. She's toxic like Katherine Heigl and no one wants anything to do with her.

Shouldn't action have been taken against MW? Why does he get off so easily?

Action against him for what? For ad-libbing around a known troublemaker?

Typical DL to say the bitch cunt whore made it all up because women are evil, completely ignoring the fact that CBS wouldn't pay out millions in a public settlement like this unless they HAD to.

I don't know what goes on in some of your heads. Think for a second instead of spewing out RedditBro talk for once.

No one said she made it up. And they would ABSOLUTELY pay out millions when weighed against publicized scandal/drama around the show and court fees.

[quote] But it wasn’t long before Mr. Weatherly started making comments that left her feeling uncomfortable. “Here comes legs,” he said on a day when Ms. Dushku was wearing a suit, according to the interview notes.

Outrageous!! She should have been awarded One Billion for that horrible abuse! And he should go to prison.

[quote]I've never even heard of this show.

I've never watched a single episode but that's probably because it's on CBS and I can't think of anything on there I'd watch other than, "Mom."

[quote]She’s such a delicate flower

The problem isn't just that he was saying those comments, it's that she said that they were upsetting her and instead of him apologizing or stopping the network decided to back off plans to hire her as a regular. It would have been so much simpler for him to say, "I'm sorry, I won't make those comments about you or around you." It seems like that was all she wanted.

Also, you couldn't make these comments at a normal job and get away with it either.

[quote]No way would they agree to almost $10 million if there weren't other things involved.

It was just the balance of the series regular contract she was offered.

I do, however, 100% believe they're downplaying what actually happened on that set and she doesn't even want to talk about it.

They also tried to present a video of her swearing and cursing him out to discredit her, which only confirmed the judge that whatever she had said were the issues on set actually did happen and were much more severe than the network was saying since it also caught some of the kinds of comments that were being said back to her.

[quote]Shouldn't action have been taken against MW? Why does he get off so easily?

Because the show is the No. 10 rated show on television.

I love Eliza Dushku. Buffy. True Calling. Dollhouse. Did I miss anything? Michael Weatherly is one of those no talent celebrities who just lucked out.

Someone mentioned Mark Harmon upthread, what did he do? I used to have the worst crush on him when he was on St. Elsewhere.

[quote]No one said she made it up.

You keep posting over and over that she's just a troublemaker. We know what that means. Stop acting like you're fooling anyone, fuckhead.

Troublemaker meaning she decided dumb jokes assaulted her. Troublemaker

The settlement should have been taken out of Weatherbee's paycheck.

Yeah, I think that firing her in retaliation is what did them in. If he had apologized none of this would have happened.

Ah well :-)

Atta girl!

What a dick move to get her fired.

HE should have been fired!

Any gossip on Mark Harmon? I only see nice things about him.

[quote] Any gossip on Mark Harmon? I only see nice things about him.

You must not get out much

I don’t really pay attention r31 because I don’t watch his show. What should I know?

r31 I don't get out much at all. What about Mark Harmon? He was so gorgeous in the day.

Nine million isn't that much to CBS. You can bet they didn't change any policies and if it happens they just pay out again

Damn! 9 mil, girl is set for life. She’ll be blacklisted but who gives a shit when you have the money to retire early.

Well, she's all but blackballed since being fired for "being a troublemaker" so I think the $9M may be a bit underpaid.

[quote]Well, she's all but blackballed since being fired for "being a troublemaker" so I think the $9M may be a bit underpaid.

I think there are people who will make sure she gets hired because the industry wants to act like they have reformed in the wake of #MeToo and want to do better. Plus, she's already spoke about being molested as a kid while filming "True Lies" so unless the industry wants to seem like they talk the talk but don't walk the walk someone will take her on.

She married a billionaire old enough to be her dad a couple months ago...this is pocket change to her.

I've never heard of this show until this story broke.

Eliza was with former NBA player Rick Fox, Vanessa Williams' ex-hubby, for 5 years.

I understand that she didn't appreciate the references to her body etc., but people joke on sets and there are several women on that show have any of them spoken out in support of her? Any female crew said anything about a toxic culture?. I think if CBS thought there was real substance to this, they would have fired Weatherly. Hell they fired Moonves. Settling it makes it go away and why torpedo a hit show over something that is probably just a series of miscommunications

Entertainment journalist Maureen Ryan listed all the incidents at CBS in front of the screen and behind. They wouldn't fire Weatherly because it is a successful series. If female crew haven't come forward maybe they aren't offended but what is more likely is that they're afraid to be shitcanned like Dushku.

She looks scary skinny. Not just actress-skinny but ill-skinny.

I agree that more than just a comment or two about her appearance went on in order for her to earn that Go Away money.

Ugh, I'm a man and I still vividly recall walking into a conference room for a meeting at work and having someone make a "jokey" comment on my appearance loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone turned to stare as I made my way to my seat. It totally rattled me and made me feel about an inch tall. Call me a delicate flower but people need to keep their fucking mouth closed with these fucking comments about each others' appearance.

It is called home training. Seems like Weatherly needs to learn put his manners back in.

Hold on a minute, just reading the details of this: Putting her claim of innapropriate comments aside for just a minute, there was no contract violation.

She was NOT fired. She was hired as a "Guest Star" not as a series regular. Guest star arcs, like the one she did on BULL are sometimes "auditions" for a series regular but there is no obligation from the studio to employ the actor for anymore than the 1+ episodes he/she is contracted for.

Caron's comment about not being able to write for her character anymore are completely in line with what she was hired to do. If you hire a painter to paint your kitchen thinking you might want to have him paint your whole house and then decide you want someone else to paint the rest of the house, you didn't fire the painter, you just "auditioned" him and then decided not to use him further.

Many Guest Stars are one offs, some become recurring but the actor and the studio are not committed to one another contractually beyond the stipulated episode(s)

I know many actors who have guest starrred on BULL for 1 or more episodes and nobody has ever related a bad experience.

Mo Ryan was herself assaulted by a network executive. She hasn't said who but I believe it may have been someone at CBS.

Mo is awesome, and she's done great work on this issue.

She'd better stretch the shit out of that award, as I doubt anyone in the industry will ever hire her again.

R45 = Les Moonves. Enjoy all your upcoming lawsuits and permanent unemployment, sweetie.

R45 If you take out the initial complaint in any case of retaliation, of course everything seems fine. If you didn't like the work the "painter" did, it makes sense that you don't continue to employee them, but if you harassed them the whole time they worked for you, complained and then were let go, that's the issue.

The comments on Yahoo are very disturbing.

r49, point taken and I am not a lawyer but what you are saying makes sense. I wonder though, if the initial perception of a grievance on the actresses part began with the sense she was wronged because she was not upgraded to series regular as she assumed she would be. Meaning, maybe the abuse claims were retrofitted to support her anger over not being offered a series regular role.

Wouldn't a good defense lawyer say "you have no claim of wrongful termination, but we if we can build a toxic workplace agreement, we can get a settlement"

In other words, if CBS/Caron etc, had pulled the trigger on her for a series regular role, It seems possible these misconduct claims would never have emerged.

Seems she was willing to endure whatever the abuse was over the period of this guest arc and only presented misconduct allegations after they chose not to go farther with her.

I am not unsympathetic to her claim, but in this environment aren't ent. lawyers of a certain type on the hunt for quick me too settlements? Considering the amount of abuse women have endured in this industry, I wouldn't shed a tear for the studios paying out, but shows and innocent people can get hurt in such an enterprise.

[quote] The comments on Yahoo are very disturbing.

This is a sentence that is always true, in any shituation.

R51 That argument might work if she never filed a complaint until after but she did it while she was working there.

Funny how no matter what, the DL always wants to support the dude.

For the person upthread who asked about Mark Harmon, I am a family friend. My dad played football in college with Tom Harmon, his father.

I am close tothe same age as his second daughter Kelly(she's 8 years older) and we have been friendly over the past 35 years. Mark is very much like what you would expect. I am sure he's no saint, but for a well paid, popular actor he practically is a saint. He's a real family guy, and he puts them ahead of everything else, which is why you seldom see him out and about being papped. I am not saying that he has never cheated, but if he has, he is smart enough to have done it extremely discreetly with a woman of a similar age and background. No matter how horny he might be, he would never jeopardize everything for an affair with some ditsy 20 something starlet who would likely spill the beans later.

Nice family except for Kris the messed up sister.

Meh, r18, I blocked the “troublemaker.”

Very satisfying

Mark Harmon is an overall nice guy who stood up for the cast when things were getting untenable under Bellasario. Only on DL will you read someone's fantasy that he's not a good guy.

Hardly -- I was hearing it back on the Usenet groups 20 years ago, R57.

Hey r11, 1976 called. They want you back.

Does this mean that the secret payout is no longer a secret?

Same people migrated over here, r58.

She better not come crawling to Broadway. Broadway don't do snitches and bitches.

There was a long-running feud between Harmon and his siblings, R61. No one has made that up, it's been reported on for years, ever since Mark got custody of Kristen's kid Sam after Ricky Nelson died in the plane crash. Mark and his wife Pam Dawber went to court saying Kristen was a junkie who shouldn't be allowed to have custody of Sam, and Kristen's lawyers turned around and said they had evidence Pam Dawber had been snorting lines on the set of "Mork & Mindy" and maybe SHE shouldn't have custody of Sam, either.

Harmon was forced to drop his bid for custody and things were nasty between them ever since. There was even a spate of "Mark is refusing to help his broke and destitute sister who is seriously ill" articles last year.

You say none of this is true. Fine, but the articles have been out there in legit sources since the mid 1980s. So maybe, just maybe, you're full of shit.

No shit, r63. His family troubles had been very well known and talked about in the media. His sister had huge fucking issues, but what does a family problem have to do with him on set? And your mention of the usenet on this is laughable. IT WAS ALL OVER THE MEDIA.

Enough. The conversation about Harmon starts with R31 indicating that there are not-so-nice things about Harmon floating around. You disagreed. You were wrong. Not only are there the family issues that go back decades, but there's whole thing with Mark Harmon's dog on set.

Man up and drop it and move on with your day.

[quote]Wouldn't a good defense lawyer say "you have no claim of wrongful termination, but we if we can build a toxic workplace agreement, we can get a settlement"

Former civil defense lawyer here. The fact that they paid out a full four year contract that wasn't even signed tells me that the evidence against CBS was very very bad. Plaintiffs' lawyers don't get sweetheart deals just for asking, or just because there's some unflattering noise in the press. The reporting also specifies mediation, not binding arbitration, so this is CBS agreeing to the specific settlement, not something they were subjected to by an outside party.

You don't have to be a *good* defense lawyer to make all the arguments you're making about her being motivated by sour grapes, and you'd have to be a dumb one to make the argument quoted above. CBS wouldn't agree to that settlement unless they had substantial exposure. CBS would've undoubtedly got a better deal if they'd had actual litigators working for them at the mediation and not some bonehead in-house compliance guy who thought "pretty girl uses dirty words" was a defense, but only because they would've been hiding the truth.

The main point here is that this is the deal that was made when the mediator and opposition were *shown the truth* as recorded on video. Your need to second guess the result is unseemly.

[quote]I wonder though, if the initial perception of a grievance on the actresses part began with the sense she was wronged because she was not upgraded to series regular as she assumed she would be.

There wasn't an "assumption." The character was created with the intention of bringing her/the character on as a regular in the following season.

Yes, they had the ability to not go forward with those plans, which they exercised.

The problem is, they decided not to go forward, because of her claims that she was being sexually harassed on set and the idea that they couldn't write for the character was a lie.

To use your analogy, as someone else has said, it's like hiring a painter to paint a room, then telling them they might be able to paint your whole entire house. Then after you spent a few weeks harassing them, you decide not to offer them the contract because they asked you to stop and you didn't feel like it. However, you also work for a much larger company that has put you in charge of handling the home and that company has policies against harassment which you're also breaking.

Go fuck yourself with the"enough" bullshit, r65. I get it, you're one of the people on DL who has an irrational hatred toward the guy. Since you bring up the family dispute. It may surprise you that Kristen Harmon's son was taken away from her when he was six and placed with his grandparents. But, sure, bring up the family dispute cause that's all you got.

And the dispute on the NCIS set with Pauley Perette was over a dog and it didn't even involve her. Up to that they were close.

Michael Weatherly looks like a perv

Fucking actresses. The worst.

[quote]T Your need to second guess the result is unseemly.

Insights appreciated , taken thanks.

However, your need to wrap your take on the situation in a condescending bit of shame is , in fact, what is unseemly here.

Your professional opinion is accepted and agreed to by me ( just an agent here, nothing so morally elevated as a lawyer) because you make a reasonable point.

Your bullshit, self serving and self aggrandizing comment about my "second guess being unseemly" can find a home up your ass at the next opportunity of entry.

r55, thank you for the info about Mark Harmon, I'm one of the posters who asked about him upthread. He seems like a decent man which is why there isn't any dirt on him.

[quote]( just an agent here, nothing so morally elevated as a lawyer)

A booking agent at a specialty travel company, I presume?

[quote]A booking agent at a specialty travel company, I presume?

Comedy is a mystical blend of skill, timing and talent. Its practice is best left to those called to it by gifts rather than a simple to apologize. However, as dabblers go, your spashing about is entertaining enough to merit a response.

Keep it up.

And anyway, I think being a booking agent in a "specialty travel company" sound anachronistic and quaint. Is that what you left the law for?

I would never presume

[quote]A booking agent at a specialty travel company, I presume?

Comedy is a mystical blend of skill, timing and talent. Its practice is best left to those called to it by gifts rather than a simple INABILITY to apologize for injecting self serving morality into a casual conversation. However, as dabblers go, your spashing about is entertaining enough to merit a response.

Keep it up.

And anyway, I think being a booking agent in a "specialty travel company" sound anachronistic and quaint. Is that what you left the law for?

I would never presume

[quote]simple INABILITY to apologize for injecting self serving morality into a casual conversation.

Speaking of anachronistic and quaint, how amusing that you think "unseemly" is a moral opprobrium. I'm afraid you might bite your thumb at me if I don't apologize.

[quote]Speaking of anachronistic and quaint, how amusing that you think "unseemly" is a moral opprobrium. I'm afraid you might bite your thumb at me if I don't apologize.

Your usage of moral opprobrium is unseemly.

The last person to make the phrase "how amusing" really work was Gail Patrick.

My thumb is safe.

She's an opportunist who saw an easy pay day by invoking #metoo for crude/offensive comments. These comments are not new on sets and certainly not exclusive to women. There's the infamous Christian Bale tape where he goes off on the DP of his movie and more recently the leaks from the Lethal Weapon set where Clayne Crawford went in on Damon Wayans saying he only had a career because of his brother. Most sets are toxic. These people don't get along because they have massive egos that need to be stroked constantly and are terribly insecure.

r77, you know Gail Patrick, but not Shakespeare. Impressive!

[quote]Your usage of moral opprobrium is unseemly.

If you don't understand your own words, I suppose it's unfair of me to expect you to understand mine. Have you looked up the definition of "unseemly" yet? It's a mild term, not really deserving of all your huffing and puffing. (Or "spashing" (sic)!)

That's 3 million per joke.

He should have gotten his suspension.

Now I wonder what happened to the actress that played "Cable" who mysteriously vanished for half of last season and was killed off on the first episode of this season. Before it was revealed to be Eliza Dushku, I thought the actress that got the settlement might have been the one who played Cable.

Uh, the issues with Harmon are not relegated to his family.

All of his NCIS female costars have had issues with him. He treats them like shit, as if it's still 1958 and some little lass in a bra is coming on to pretty up his testosterone soap opera.

The first NCIS actress (Sasha something) was fired for pushing back, Lauren Holly fled too.

Cote Pablo and Pauley Perrette hung in for a long time, but both of their departures were directly or indirectly a result of Harmon's verbal abusiveness on set.

He has rage issues. He may be calm and cool for a long time, but when he snaps, he is toxic and cruel.

Sasha Alexander left because of Bellasario and his chaotic management style that led to 16 hour shooting days . It's part of why Harmon stepped in to get Bellasario removed from his own show. Mark Harmon got Lauren Holly the job. She left when she moved to either Chicago or Canada to be with her family. Cote de may have left because of Weatherly, but what she said was she wasn't happy with the direction of her character. Pauley Perrette left because of Harmon and a bizzare dog story that didn't involve her but that is Perrette. She's a huge flake who seems to be attacked by people on a daily basis.

Oh, and r83, Pauley Perrette may have also played a part in Cote de Pablo leaving. They weren't getting along toward the end.

r83, thanks for the clarification about Harmon's behavior, the way he treats his female colleagues speaks volumes about his character, thanks for the inside info. He sounds like an asshole even if he treats his family OK.

[quote]r41 there are several women on that show have any of them spoken out in support of her? Any female crew said anything about a toxic culture?

Yes, it's so strange that no other women have come forward, after their coworker who did was LET GO.

[quote]r45 Many Guest Stars are one offs, some become recurring but the actor and the studio are not committed to one another contractually beyond the stipulated episode(s)

It's too bad CBS couldn't afford to have you as an attorney... I gues they just winged all this without one.

R86 is talking to herself again.

[quote]r51 Seems she was willing to endure whatever the abuse was over the period of this guest arc and only presented misconduct allegations after they chose not to go farther with her.

Did you read the NY Times article, linked in the OP?

There were long term plans for the character on the show, including when she would become romantically involved with the lead. The actress did not like the star's raunchy jokes directed at her (which included talk of spanking her and taking her to his "rape van," filled with sex toys and lubricants). She complained to the show's creator and head writer, and they decided she should speak to the star directly. She did this respectfully while praising his work, but also pointed out that the male crew followed his lead. (After the star told the actress he would like a threesom with her, a crew member did the same.) The actress also discussed the situation with a studio executive.

After the actress spoke with the star, he texted the president of CBS that they needed to discuss her sense of humor ... or lack of one. Days later, she was informed any further plans for her character were scrapped.

The settlement amount was what the actress would have been paid over the next three years on the show, had plans continued without her being dropped.

[quote] [R45] Many Guest Stars are one offs, some become recurring but the actor and the studio are not committed to one another contractually beyond the stipulated episode(s) It's too bad CBS couldn't afford to have you as an attorney... I gues they just winged all this without one.

So the terms Guest Star and Series Regular are defined terms that mean different things. An actor can guest star for a single or multiple episode but is only contractually obligated for those episode be that 1 or more. A series regular is contracted to a show for the season, whether they are used each eipisode or not, the producer and actor enter into an exclusive agreement for the period of shooting. Any outs the actor might want for other jobs are at the discretion of the producer.

These are not things an attorney negotiates. These are established negotiated terms from SAG/AFTRA

A guest star can accept other work as long as it doesn't conflict with the shooting dates of the episodes contracted.

R91 I was suggesting your belief that this whole thing could be dismissed because she was a mere guest star is moronic.

Do you fuckers hold jobs?

What’s outlined at r90 would never be acceptable where I work, and I’m sorry that shit still flies elsewhere.

Workplaces can be tough and full of rancor, but at some points it goes beyond that I to harassment.

Dushku got her start in the business playing Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis’s daughter in True Lies, during which time she was molested by a stunt coordinator. She spoke openly about that a couple years ago. I imagine she would have a lot to say about this save for the NDA.

I was molested.

Get off my turf, bitch.

Yet the original joke, which he riffed on by calling it a rape van, was a joke about, in essence, a creepy windowless van in which someone would be assaulted. He didn’t just come up with it. Jesus.

R15 That doesn’t make sense. If Dushku was considered toxic, CBS would not have been looking to cast her as a regular in 2017. She was already irrelevant at that point, and her career was dead. What reason would CBS have to cast a washed up, “toxic” actress as a regular on a show? You clearly have some other agenda.

[quote]r96 Yet the original joke, which he riffed on by calling it a rape van, was a joke about, in essence, a creepy windowless van in which someone would be assaulted. He didn’t just come up with it. Jesus.

A rape van, "filled with phallic objects and lubricant."

Oh yes, he had EVERY reason to believe that new and improved joke of his would fly!

She was terrible on Bull. When the episodes were airing there was a significant amount of complaints and critiques about her character. She and Weatherly had no chemistry from the start. Her performance was uncomfortably bad. She never matured as an actress after years of playing tough chick teenager. Weatherly is a deeply insecure frat bro type, but his complaint that she needed to develop a sense of humor was spot on. Her character was stiff and humorless when she wasn't trying way too hard to be seductive.

TLDR. Weatherly totally made the obnoxious offensive comments, but my guess is she was fired because her performance made her character insufferable.

R82, the actress who played Cable asked to be let out of her contract because she received an offer to direct a movie. Her father is one of the executive producers of Bull, so her request was granted.

[Quote] She never matured as an actress after years of playing tough chick teenager.

Basically her wheelhouse.

After r90 posted the entire part of the article that explains what happened, people are still coming to Datalounge with made up conspiracy theories designed to make her entirely responsible. It's unbelievable. What the fuck is wrong with you? What the fuck is wrong with Datalounge? It didn't used to be this bad.

R102, there are clearly people here who have connections to the shows and the actors. They are trying to protect the male stars.

Hilariously, no one has talked about the simmering tension between Harmon and Weatherly that drove the latter from NCIS.

[quote]r102 After [R90] posted the entire part of the article that explains what happened, people are still coming to Datalounge with made up conspiracy theories designed to make her entirely responsible. It's unbelievable. What the fuck is wrong with you? What the fuck is wrong with Datalounge?

I think part of it may be because the members here are predominantly male, and even if they're gay they feel some strange allegiance with these straight men, who they see as being attacked or undercut by women. Some members don't want to take any "frau" seriously, or think a woman might have the right to be treated in a non-sexual way in the workplace.

I think there's a big disconnect caused by frisky gay men (of whom I am one) sometimes having trouble grasping why women wouldn't just ADORE being sexualized by straight men around the clock. But our sisters have been dealing with that relentless attention since they were 11 or something, and often it's unwanted. Especially at work. They're OVER it. Yes, women like to flirt with men they find attractive or admire, but they don't like being treated like a dumb piece of meat by every man who crosses their path.

I think a lot of men also don't understand how unwanted sexual comments can make a woman feel unsafe ... and for good reason! In their experience, and every woman has experienced this escalation, men can start with lewd comments, then they get handsy, then they try to rape. Navagating where these things are headed is a constant concern to women. It's not fun for them when they don't want to participate. It can be very disquieting, if not downright scary. And it's not fun for them when they express concerns and then their job evaporates.

I'm R99 and I'm a woman and a feminist. I have no problem believing Weatherly said those things. He's always struck me as a bottomless black hole of need, a real life Chandler Bing. He, like Dushku, has played one character his whole career. I've said over and over since #MeToo started that the people being fired were ones networks and agencies and studios were dying to give the boot anyway and just needed an excuse. Lauer, Rose, Weinstein, Moonves...they were all on their way out anyway because they were no longer cash cows.

This case is a good example of how things haven't really changed despite almost a year of exposes, firings, and filed charges. Thanks to CSI, Weatherly is a huge draw and Bull is good show. Of course they won't fire him. This is the tipping point, where we're going to see the return of men getting away with this bullshit.

Now, all that said, correlation is not necessarily causation. He can be a creep and not be responsible for her arc not getting picked up and made series regular. If you watch the show, and I have since the first episode, you knew immediately her character and Bull weren't clicking. She was all wrong for the role and totally miscast. They honored the contract and kept her on, then wrote her out when her contracted number of episodes aired. Leads characters are notorious for hating each other for screen, but networks still keep the actors in place if they click. She didn't fit in with the cast. Weatherly's complaint May have been the nail in the coffin, but more than likely the decision to cut her was made after her first week on set. If anything, they knew Moonves was being investigated and they wanted to keep her quiet, hence the large payout.

[quote]He can be a creep and not be responsible for her arc not getting picked up and made series regular.

This is all ancient history!

Their own investigation found that they [bold]did[/bold] let her know that the character might be made a regular. They [bold]did have plans for the character that had been developed[/bold] beyond her initial three appearances because they intended to keep her on and that Weatherly's [italic]input[/input] because of her lack of "humor" over his comments (some of which were on video that they presented) was the reason she wasn't picked up.

[quote]After [R90] posted the entire part of the article that explains what happened, people are still coming to Datalounge with made up conspiracy theories designed to make her entirely responsible. It's unbelievable.

This is the weirdest thing about this thread. It's all laid out in multiple articles written about it and people are still trying to come up with things outside of what the internal investigation found to discredit her as if CBS wouldn't have done that if they could have!

Ugh, I wish this website would have a better way of using bold/italics in posts.

You said it yourself....they said they *might* make her series regular. There was no promise that they would. They tested the character, it didn't work, so buh bye.

r106 I think people's points (not that I necessarily agree with them) are that on a set/series there are other industry issues at play that aren't discussed publicly. Anyone in the business would know them, and thus chime in on whether they apply in this situation.

That particular network is involved in a byzantine (even by industry standards) corporate, legal, and industry war of succession. There are some who feel that their current situation on the creative side is, in no small part, a direct result of these internal struggles. Point being, people in the industry will be very skeptical of any account, even if it was "legitimate" because of everything else going on at the high-end, billionaire influencer level.

Saying CBS wouldn't have paid out if their were extenuating circumstances or mitigating issues is, ADR, not understanding the industry, or the corporate shareholder model, which is the real villain here.

R104 Excellent. Thank you. Right on. All of it.

I am also shocked at the amount of doubt and suspicion people are casting over this whole thing. The articles couldn't be more clear. And they have proof on video. Full-on video. Which CBS themselves submitted foolishly. A case rarely has video to back up the allegations of the accuser. What more does anyone need here?

Also it was a confidential agreement. It was never about grand-standing regarding #metoo. And she went public about her incident during the filming of True Lies before #metoo even existed.

I don't know either actor in this case other than by name and knowledge they are a famous something actor. I also do not know the show. So just reading the articles with seemingly no bias/assumptions/ideas other than the facts put forth in the articles, again, I am mystified at the distrust and annoyance here.

Have the past few years of constant distrust, distraction, fake news, deep state, identity politics, uneasy feeling of something nefarious behind everything and everyone really blanketed everything? It seems the death of common sense is really and truly here.

Baby, it IS cold outside.

R108, you don't seem to be able to comprehend that if the reasons they decided not to make her a series regular is because she didn't like sexual comments being made towards her or around her then that's a problem. I don't know why people are so hell bent on hating her because she wanted someone to stop doing something.

Eliza Dushku is one of the nicest, kindest people you could ever interact with. She's no push over, but if she gets that you're a genuine person she's just wonderful.

R109, Eliza isn't someone that just appeared on the scene yesterday / some no name actress. If you were alive and aware in a certain generation you know who she is. If she wanted to talk about this issue, people would have listened. The on set behavior described is very normal on most sets but if someone has an issue with it the response should have been better than it was.

Two issues are being conflated: The validity of Dushku's claims that Weatherly acted inappropriately (he did, there's video to back it up) and whether her complaint about Weatherly was the reason her character was not made a series regular (That's specious at best.)

Anybody insisting - INSISTING - that Dushku wasn't made a series regular because of Weatherly and then admit they've never seen the show - specifically her episodes- have no basis on which to state as fact that she was screwed over. Read the comments about her performance on all of her episodes over at Previously TV. They're almost universally negative.

[quote] I was suggesting your belief that this whole thing could be dismissed because she was a mere guest star is moronic.

Yes, your suggestion that my point was moronic was clear as a bell and much appreciated.

[quote]Now, all that said, correlation is not necessarily causation. He can be a creep and not be responsible for her arc not getting picked up and made series regular. If you watch the show, and I have since the first episode, you knew immediately her character and Bull weren't clicking. She was all wrong for the role and totally miscast. They honored the contract and kept her on, then wrote her out when her contracted number of episodes aired. Leads characters are notorious for hating each other for screen, but networks still keep the actors in place if they click. She didn't fit in with the cast. Weatherly's complaint May have been the nail in the coffin, but more than likely the decision to cut her was made after her first week on set. If anything, they knew Moonves was being investigated and they wanted to keep her quiet, hence the large payout.

Agree completely, if the pairing of Weatherly and Dushku was working the network would have massaged any complaints he had about her "lack of humor" by telling him the conflict between them is making the onscreen chemsitry electric. This happens frequently. Actors on network shows start to feel some power and attempt to exert that power over casting and other cast members. Showrunners are experienced in handling cast conflicts and complaints from one actor about another. It is likely, as you stated, that the show had already decided not to up her to series regular based on what they were seeing. If it had been working, he would have been told (nicely) to make it work somehow.. A show like BULL would benefit greatly by an audience garnering romance and that's why they brought her on.

[quote]She was all wrong for the role and totally miscast.

Having said all that I have said above, it is ENTIRELY POSSIBLE and even PROBABLE that the sexual comments Weatherly was making to Ms. Dushku affected her ability to perform. If she felt belittled and mistreated, it is difficult to relax and let a performance happen. Some actors can put shit behind them that happened two seconds before shooting and some can't.

Just to clarify my thoughts on this: Ms. Dushku has a reasonable claim against the show but techically she wasn't fired. The fact that they didn't sign her up for the long haul from the get go indicates that the show wanted to see how the chemistry was and when it was determined it wasn't working, they didn't go forward. I do allow that the hostile circumstances could have affected her performance and thus led to her not being able to connect with Weatherly or anyone else on the show in a way that made the audience want to see more of them together.

People are generally dismissive of actors and even in this thread calling Ms. Dushku "washed up" or whatever (which she clearly isn't) same with Weatherly. The fact that they play versions of the same thing on television over and over is not a statement of overall talent, just the way the casting process works.

Just to add one other thought. Sexual bullying and bullying in general have been a part of the industry since its inception. As a way of explaining the less than shocked take some people are expressing here: People in the business have heard detailed accounts of all kinds of abuse, most of it much, much MUCH worse than whatever Ms.Dushku experienced. This doesn't diminish at all what Ms. Dushku experienced and I support her speaking out and trying to correct the situation, expecially considering the abuse she suffered as a child in the industry.

This is changing and changing rapidly and everytime one of the notorious perpetrators falls, plenty of industry people applaud.

Nathan Fillion called Stanya whatshername a cunt on the set of Castle. She managed to push through. Though I agree that Weatherly's crassness probably affected her performance, he couldn't have affected all of it. In fact, they were supposed to be adversaries at first. I think it's a combination of the two: Weatherly made her uncomfortable and she wasn't right for the role.

[Quote] Nathan Fillion called Stanya whatshername a cunt on the set of Castle. She managed to push through.

I hope she called him out on it.

Pauly Perrette supports him.

I think people are having problems with this because it's a huge amount of money for enduring unpleasant behavior and the loss of something speculative rather than nailed down. When someone is paid more money for not working than what most people will see in their lifetime, it feels unjust. It's capitalism; it's CBS and a drop in the bucket to them but people will get laid off so those on top don't take a hit. There are people who lose limbs due to company negligence who don't get that kind of money. That's what the grousing is about.

But R117, your comment is applicable to every aspect of the entertainment industry. It involves incomprehensible amounts of money—so much, in fact, that it’s absurd to suggest that anyone will be hurt by this kind of payout. The inequities of the US economy is not Dushku’s fault.

But it does also point to the inequities of the judicial system in relation to class and power.

Compare this case to the thousands involving domestic workers who have no recourse to the sexual harassment they face.

I’m on team Dushku, by the way. The payout may also serve as a signal to executives and men in high positions not to let this happen again, or T least not on repetition like clockwork.

Get them COINS Eliza! Stupid neanderthal men, they are their own worst enemy.

I think it is endemic of the culture of CBS, starting at the top with Moonves. Yes, it seems a massive payout for what a lot of women go through on a daily basis.

But I have been a fan of hers since “Faith” on Buffy, and we grew up in the same town (Watertown, MA). I don’t watch those CBS shows (this, NCIS, CSI) because the lead male characters always seem so douchebaggy.

Making lame sex jokes has now become conflated with sexual assault. It’s a way for women to finally get back at the men they resent so much. We all know a stupid sex joke is not assault but it’s 2018, the era of retribution against men by any means necessary.

To those who say actor Michael Weatherly is a great guy: he may well be. Complaining to CBS' president about his costar because she called him on his onset behavior was a bitch-move ... but some have a hard time grasping that an otherwise "nice guy" can still be a harasser.

OT: in looking at pictures from the show, does anyone else think his weigh gain makes him resemble Tom Arnold a little bit? It's not like you'd say "That's Tom Arnold!' but you might think "That looks like Tom Arnold."

R122 So, making lame homophobic jokes is OK, too?

Actress in Bull. Seems like it should be a title, like Mistress in Titre

Some posters seem confused by what happened here. The money was not intended to punish anyone for making lewd comments; it was to compensate her for the loss of a high-paying job due to illegal retaliation.

He probably did act like a douche. Also, Dushku is well-known as a cunt. A major, major cunt.

She is also not averse to fucking for parts. Ask whoever it was who put her in the sci-fi thing everyone was watching for five minutes a few years back. Uber cunt, fucked for that part.

If they fired her for reporting his sleazy behavior, which they did, then they should pay for it. I have no issue with that. She's still a notorious cunt and fucks for parts.

[Quote] Ask whoever it was who put her in the sci-fi thing everyone was watching for five minutes a few years back

Dollhouse??

Once more for the cheap seats- She was never offered a series regular role. She was offered an arc - or multi-appearance deal - which they fulfilled. She was told if the character worked, then she might be made a series regular.

As a woman, I'll say that she shouldn't have to tolerate that kind lewdness and harassment and Weatherly needs to be reprimanded somehow, but not be booted from the show. But for fuck's sake, girl. Do your job. Let's stop acting like she was groped or assaulted. Plenty and I mean PLENTY of actresses have endured tense working relationships with co-stars and turned in Oscar worthy performances. Do your fucking job so nobody can say you didn't.

The large amount was a pay-off in exchange for her silence. No doubt the investigation into Les Moonves had people concerned, so they were invested in keeping her quiet.

Literally never heard of this show before these headlines.

R129 How exactly did she not do her job? And just because women have dealt with sexual harassment ad nauseum throughout all time, she should just shut up and take it? Naaaah, same as how Kevin Hart is being taken to task for his homophobic tweets, these dumb monkeys need to be called out, or there will be no change.

I'm going to ignore the racist monkey comment....

Question: Did you watch her episodes from the show? If not, then nothing you say carries any weight.

No, I don't think she should suck it up and take it. I think she should report him, then do the absolute best job possible, and that means pushing through any discomfort she May have had working with him. Because, see, if you watched the show, you wouldn't be at all surprised she wasn't brought back. Do a search for tweets during her episodes (may 2017) and read comments on sites like Previously.tv. There were wide spread complaints that her character wasn't working. Should she have won money for what she endured? YES, but she needs to concede to the fact that her character was not well received by the audience.

R132 Racist? By equating men with monkeys? She did her job, she acted, she didn't storm off in a fit. Whatever your subjective opinion of her acting skills is irrelevant.

[quote]r129 for fuck's sake, girl. Do your job. Let's stop acting like she was groped or assaulted. Plenty and I mean PLENTY of actresses have endured tense working relationships with co-stars and turned in Oscar worthy performances. Do your fucking job so nobody can say you didn't.

In what way did she not do her job? She didn't refuse to show up for work, she didn't throw on set tantrums or even call her costar out in public. She went through the appropriate channels and then discussed the matter with him in private.

He retaliated by texted the president of CBS that they needed to talk about her ... then she was off the show.

If we're going to talk about a worker keeping their head down, rolling with the punches, and just soldiering on, it appears it was overfed star Michael Weatherly who was unable to do [italic]that.

If she couldn't get past any discomfort or dislike for Weatherly, that's a case of not doing your job.

She reported it, reported Weatherly, and continued to do her job until they fired her for reporting him. R135 is some kind of retard.

R135 LOL, part of her job is forcing herself to be comfortable around toxicity, eh? No, not only does she need to be comfortable around sexism, she has to LIKE the person doing it!

The CBS executives were not doing THEIR jobs. They didn’t deal with the problem properly and exposed the company to legal damages.

I looked up BULLS ratings and they are somewhat average for a network show (about 6 million) for the live viewing but they almost double in the +7 & DVR ratings for the week making the average somewhere in the 11-12 million range for the total weeks viewers. No way in hell CBS is going to cancel the show over this unless a parade of women come forward claiming the same thing.

The show recently had an immigration story in which a nasty MAGA type judge deported Danny's BF. Interesting, they would risk alienating the maga audience but good on them

[quote]She is also not averse to fucking for parts. Ask whoever it was who put her in the sci-fi thing everyone was watching for five minutes a few years back. Uber cunt, fucked for that part.

Eliza Dushku had her own development deal at Fox after Tru Calling, dumbass at R127.

Joss pitched it to her, not the other way round and that's how she ended up starring on the show.

Once again, she was a hot commodity during that period of time.

[quote] Do a search for tweets during her episodes (may 2017) and read comments on sites like Previously.tv.

Nobody reads Previously.tv. anymore (thanks to Reddit) and the site was a new home for people who left TelevisionWithoutPity / MightyBigTV. If you remember either of those you might also remember they nearly HATED EVERY WOMAN on any male led show EVER.

Jose Whedon might not be the best example to use to prove she didn't fuck for parts. His ex-wife outed him as a toxic narcissist who fucked around with actresses while pretending to be a feminist ally.

Mean, unkind coworkers are a far bigger problem than a fucking sex joke. Weatherly is a kind man.

Why would this turn to a discussion of the actress' alleged sexual past?

Is this a varation on "You Can't Rape Whores"?

What was the Harmon and Weatherly drama?

R142 Mean, unkind coworkers are a far bigger problem than a fucking homophobic joke. Hart is a kind man.

[quote]What was the Harmon and Weatherly drama?

There wasn't any.

R114, he called her an entitled bitch because of her attitude toward the crew. Their relationship didn’t recover, but her attitude did improve.

I agree, r145

[quote]Jose Whedon might not be the best example to use to prove she didn't fuck for parts.

And this has what to do with the price of rice in China?

She had the power in that situation. It was her deal and she had the ability to do something they gave her or bring something to them herself.

Buffy had been off the air for years at that point.

The comment was a rumor that she had sex with Joss Whedon to do Dollhouse when the truth is she could have done any damn show she wanted at Fox and she picked that one after they both came up with the idea.

And you really think she wouldn't have outed him as a terrible person by now if that were the case? Charisma Carpenter called him out on his misogyny a long time ago.

R143, this is just a repeat of CBS’s defense during the mediation: she used swear words on the set, ergo she’s a whore who should not have been upset by Weatherly’s comments. For some reason, that argument blew up in the network’s face.

No, not that she’s a “whore”, just that salty language only offends her if she’s not the one spouting it.

[quote]Troublemaker meaning she decided dumb jokes assaulted her.

You stupid fuck. They FIRED her thinking they could get rid of her before anyone found out what a pig Weatherly is and it backfired. BIG TIME. Leave it to a tired old queen to vilify the woman. Not her fault you were born with a penis.

Sure 152

[Quote] What more does anyone need here?

For Eliza Dushku to be KJ Apa, and Michael Weatherly Andy Cohen. Then, the creep would be the villain of the thread.

[Quote] I am mystified at the distrust and annoyance here.

Many DLers have confessed to being cubicle workers or unemployed. Of course, they'll stamp their hooves at a 9 million payout to a WOMAN!?

Pauley Perrette and Sasha Alexander come to Weatherly's defense

[quote] Nathan Fillion called Stanya whatshername a cunt on the set of Castle.

So THAT's what happened there? I never did hear the details.

[quote] Making lame sex jokes has now become conflated with sexual assaul

Has Weatherby been charged with a crime? No?

[quote]r156 Pauley Perrette and Sasha Alexander come to Weatherly's defense

That's fine. No one's saying he's a monster ... just that he should start acting like an adult in the workplace. Like we all have to.

That article has this interesting detail:

[quote]The confidential payment was sneaked into Bull’s production budget in an effort apparently motivated to avoid the sum popping up on the company’s books, sources say.

[quote]Once more for the cheap seats- She was never offered a series regular role

Lady, I don't know how many times you need to be told this, but there is a clear line between her calling Weatherly out, Weatherly complaining about her, and her being dismissed from the show. There is every reason to believe this was a cause-and-effect situation.

The fact that she was not guaranteed a series regular role is beside the point.

It seems that the only reason you keep bringing this up is because your true feelings are:

[quote]But for fuck's sake, girl. Do your job. Let's stop acting like she was groped or assaulted.

You don't believe she had to deal with problems because she was not physically groped. Being hassled by a guy who's talking about dragging you to his rape van full of lube is just an everyday occurrence to you, apparently, and you think she should shut up and do her job, part of which is putting up with those comments. Unless he also honked her tits when he said that, you don't think he did anything wrong, and "for fuck's sake bitch, just do your job."

Pathetic.

R141 I wonder how involved he'll be with the Buffy reboot...?

[quote][R156] Pauley Perrette and Sasha Alexander come to Weatherly's defense

Good for them. They have FUCK ALL to do with THIS situation.

Again, his INITIAL behavior doesn’t make him the antichrist. Look...some people can’t take a joke blahblahblah. She may have been fine with some roses and apology.

What really makes him a dick is all the sneaking around he did to get her fired.

Glenn Gordon Caron doesn't come off well in this, either. The events are:.

Michael Weatherly makes rape jokes to Eliza Dushku on the job, says he'll put her over his knee and spank her, and implies she wants a threesome. Other crew follow his cue and tell her they want a threesome, too. / She speaks with writer/executive producer Glenn Gordon Caron, who suggests she speak to her costar directly. / She does, explaining to Weatherly that his sense of humor is out of line, and that others on the crew are following his lead, making sexual remarks to her. / Weatherly texts CBS president Les Moonves that they "need to discuss Dushku's sense of humor". /[italic] (Moonves tells Caron the actress is not to be used in future episodes as planned?)[/italic] / Caron is promoted to Show Runner and informs Dushku her services are no longer desired.

(Also mixed into this is Dushku perhaps speaking with a second studio executive about the situation ... one article I read stated that.)

1.) So, was Caron given the promotion so he'd spin his "recollection" of his conversation with Dushku in a light favorable to the studio? Has he made statements about this case?

2.) And while Weatherly has stated he "thanked" the actress for coming to him with her concerns, he's never explained why he then immediately shot off a text to CBS president (and resident perv) Les Moonves, saying they had to discuss Dushku.

Michael Weatherly looks like 50 shades of shit. Amazing that a man can look like that and still have a career with starring roles, while for a lot of women it's over for them if they get a wrinkle.

Weatherly used to be adorable but he's gotten bloated and fat.

When she was fired, a Blind Item said the cause was Eliza telling people that Weatherly was getting a divorce.

Wasn’t Pauly Perrette fired by CBS too?

Michael Weatherly’s behavior would get him canned from any other legitimate, “non-Hollywood” job. Furthermore, “Bull” SUCKS, no matter how many idiot viewers it attracts. I couldn’t even make it through one episode without turning it off in disgust.

But thanks, CBS PR people, for weighing in to tell us what we should think.

[quote]Wasn’t Pauly Perrette fired by CBS too?

No, she left the show after 16 years.

However, after stories (in gossip and tabloid mags) came out saying that she was the issue she responded in a series of tweets on Twitter.

She claimed it was because someone was harassing her and she had enough but wasn't allowed to talk about it.

The only clue she gave was that she was trying to protect the "crew and their jobs" when she refused to go into detail initially.

Sounds like someone in the cast did something to her. Her final one is at the link.

It's clear it wasn't Weatherly after her most recent tweet. I hate to say it but it seems like she might be referring to Harmon since if it were another cast member they would have gotten rid of them and she wouldn't have had to protect the "crew and their jobs."

R168 it was Harmon who she had a falling out with.

I don't think Jessica Alba had good things to say about him after they split. And i'm pretty sure she was only 18 when they got engaged.

R168, it's because Mark Harmon brought his dog back on the set after it bit a crew member and she threw a fit and never spoke to Harmon after that again and then quit. Harmon's dog sitter didn't come to work, Harmon asked the crew, including the guy who was bit, and nobody objected. Perrette had her fit on behalf of the crew. The guy who was bit was rough housing with the dog, which was a rescue dog, when he was bit.

Michael was porn star gorgeous at R170.

[R97] you clearly missed Heigl's short-lived CBS series Doubt.

R173 She seems to be doing well on Suits.

Mr. Weatherly could abuse the livin' fuck out of me, anytime, place, or date.

[Quote] Mr. Weatherly could abuse the livin' fuck out of me, anytime, place, or date.

So what's the verdict? Does anyone think they'll cancel Bull?

Even if they did, Weatherly doesn't seem to have much trouble finding another job.

[bold]‘Bull’: Steven Spielberg & Amblin TV Pull Out Of CBS Drama Over Michael Weatherly Harassment Controversy[/bold]

[quote]Steven Spielberg’ Amblin Television is walking away from CBS’ popular legal drama Bull in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations against star Michael Weatherly. Spielberg and Amblin TV co-heads Frank and Falvey served as executive producers on Bull for its first three seasons. The procedural drama was just renewed by CBS for a fourth season.

[quote]Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw have been major supporters of the Time’s Up movement from the start, and I hear Spielberg, who had met with Duschu, didn’t want to be associated with the series any longer. That is a bold move as la long-running CBS procedural is considered one of the most lucrative propositions in TV, often associated with a financial windfall for producers.

I'm a friend of Eliza. She's done with show business (for now). Having a baby.

I'm happy for her. Actresses are treated in this disposible way all the time, and it will only stop when it gets too expensive to keep it up.

Puhleez...Eliza is a conwoman. She's done because no producer in their right mind would take the risk and hire her, only for her to later try to extort them for money like she did in this case.

R179 well it's the least they could do.

R180 who's she dating?

R182 I think Joss Whedon would beg to differ.

R33

He has a man sweater.