Joining the chorus of other actresses — such as Portia de Rossi and Julianna Margulies — with allegations regarding sexual harassment at the hands of Steven Seagal, CSI: Miami star Eva LaRue is claiming that the director harassed her in his home while she was auditioning for a movie in 1990. Speaking with Deadline, LaRue alleges that Seagal, who was there with two producers and a casting director, escorted the actress out of a living room following her arrival to get a script in a separate room. Seagal, who was wearing a kimono, then locked her in the room and proceeded with a sexual advance. “He says, ‘Have a seat on the couch.’ It was like a literal casting couch,” she explained. “And as I was walking towards the couch, with my back towards the door, he’s busy closing and locking the doors behind my back. I go to sit on the couch, and he comes towards me and he’s opening his weirdo kimono. There’s no script or anything. Just him standing there with his kimono open. He had underwear on, thank God, and he was bare everywhere else. And it was clear he was not just getting cozy.”
LaRue immediately began making excuses to safely get out of the room, but Seagal refused to let her leave initially. “I don’t know what’s happening,” she recalled. “I’m fumbling with the lock and he says, ‘No, no, come back. You’ve got to stay. Come sit on the couch and have a drink with me.’” LaRue ultimately managed to leave unscathed, and she blames the community of agents for allowing young actresses to be left vulnerable with Seagal. “All these agents back then knew what was going on for ages. Thanks for not telling us,” she said. “Everybody knew but us actors.”
