Allies support Eliza Dushku as accused stunt coordinator rejects molestation allegations as ‘lies’

Actress Eliza Dushku has allies rallying around her after she accused a prolific stunt coordinator of molesting her when she was 12 years old and working on the 1994 action film “True Lies.”

Joel Kramer, a stunt coordinator who has worked on dozens of movies, has rejected Dushku’s account, which she posted Saturday on Facebook.

“These are absolute lies,” Kramer told the Wrap on Saturday. “I’m absolutely floored. I don’t know what to say. I never took her to my hotel room. I never took off her clothes.” He told Deadline that Dushku’s allegations were “outlandish, manipulated lies” and added, “I think she’s making this up in her imagination.”

Tom Arnold and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred in “True Lies,” tweeted that they would have “done something” had they known anything at the time. Director James Cameron said Saturday that “there would have been no mercy” if he had known about the allegations back then. Ex-boyfriend Rick Fox, formerly of the Lakers and the Celtics, tweeted his support Saturday.

And Jamie Lee Curtis said in a Huffington Post essay Sunday that Dushku had shared the story with her privately a few years ago.

“All of us must take some responsibility that the loose and relaxed camaraderie that we share with our young performers has carried with it a misguided assumption that they are adults in an adult world, capable of making adult choices,” Curtis wrote.

In her Saturday post, Dushku, 37, gave a detailed account of what she alleges Emmy-nominated Kramer did. She said she shared her story at the time with her parents, two adult friends and an older brother. “No one seemed ready to confront this taboo subject then, nor was I,” she wrote.

After Dushku posted her story, two veteran stunt women came forward to Deadline with additional allegations of sexual misconduct against Kramer. Kramer, who has been dropped by his agency, denied those accusations as well.

Dushku doubled down Sunday, writing on Facebook, “I stand by what I said here. His denials are not accurate. What I wrote is the truth. I won’t let him victimize me again.”

JoAnne Colonna — Dushku’s agent when “True Lies” was in production and one of the “adult friends” the actress mentioned — told Deadline she tried to report inappropriate on-set behavior “multiple times.” Sue Booth-Forbes, who was Dushku’s legal guardian on the movie set, also backed up the actress’ account.

Kramer, 60, told Deadline on Saturday that he wasn’t sure how to defend himself against Dushku’s allegations other than taking legal action. The Times was unable to reach Kramer for comment Tuesday.

cdz@latimes.com

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