Jerry Lewis co-stars accuse late star of sexual abuse

[milestogo]

Vanity Fair investigation finds a string of fellow actors who describe harassment and assaults in the 60s when Lewis was at the height of his fame

Former co-stars of the late actor and comedian Jerry Lewis have accused him of sexual assault and sexual harassment. The women all met Lewis when he was at the height of his Hollywood career. In an investigation by Vanity Fair and accompanying short film, they allege Lewis – who died of natural causes in 2017 aged 91, had mistreated them.

The story and film are based in part on interviews conducted by Emmy-winning Allen v Farrow film-makers, Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick, who have been investigating Hollywood’s long history of abuse. They found that some of the most explosive accusations involved Lewis.

Among those interviewed are Hope Holiday, who starred alongside Lewis in The Ladies Man, Jill St John, who starred opposite Lewis in Who’s Minding the Store?, Anna Maria Alberghetti, who worked with him on Cinderfella, Karen Sharpe, who played Lewis’s love interest in The Disorderly Orderly, Oscar-nominated writer Renée Taylor, and singer Lainie Kazan.

Sharpe, now 87, alleged that after a costume fitting in his office in 1964, Lewis physically assaulted her. “He grabbed me. He began to fondle me. He unzipped his pants. Quite frankly, I was dumbstuck,” she said. “I put my hand up and said, ‘Wait a minute. I don’t know if this is a requirement for your leading ladies, but this is something I don’t do.’ I could see that he was furious. I got the feeling that that never really happened to him.”

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/feb/24/jerry-lewis-co-stars-accuse-late-star-of-sexual-abuse

[marie999]

1. Waiting until someone dies to attack them is wrong.

[secondwind]

2. Wut......

[JI7]

3. If what they allege is true is it an attack ? Also with these people you have to consider

the times they were living in .

[secondwind]

5. Exactly. We're talking about more than 40 years ago, when you had to take a lot of

abuse, or your career may be destroyed.

[marie999]

10. He died only 4 1/2 years ago.

[JI7]

18. So what ? T

[brush]

34. Are you actually saying new revelations coming out of sexual assault and harrassment should be...

buried?

[melm00se]

58. In this case

the accused has zero ability to defend themselves.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. Well that's certainly a new way of saying "why didn't they say something?/?//???"

[tenderfoot]

8. He was a well known dirtbag when he was alive...

no one in the industry mourned his death either.

[shrike3]

23. Unfortunately, yes.

[hunter]

24. Yep. My mom hated him.

When me and my siblings were small we didn't really understand her aversion to some actors. "All our friends" were watching that stuff and we weren't allowed.

Bob Crane was another actor on her shit list.

When we were older we found out why.

[tenderfoot]

25. In juxtapose to Dean Martin and Don Rickles who everyone adored.

eom

[XanaDUer2]

60. My mom, too nt

[robbob]

62. Do you know how your Mom knew this stuff?

Was she an insider? Or just a good judge of character?

[hunter]

63. My mom and dad are artists who met working in Hollywood.

My grandma and her sister were definitely insiders.

My grandmother wanted all her grandchildren to be stars but I flunked out early. My television career ended when I was four years old. My mom says I'd stare at very important people the same way I'd stare at interesting insects. I always was a scientist.

I'd planned on being a television engineer "when I grew up" but switched majors to biology my second year of college.

My sister and one of my brothers have some screen credits but they never were able to make careers of it. My sister works just enough to maintain her union card.

[delisen]

13. I think people always have the right to speak their truth.

What is wrong is to try to pressure them to remain silent.

[BannonsLiver]

21. It's okay.

Jerry was a great big piece of shit. And a hack.

[Srkdqltr]

4. He's dead. What's the point?

[secondwind]

7. The victim(s) aren't.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

15. Any number of totally valid reasons.

[delisen]

16. There are no time limits on free speec about our life experiences.

You are free to defend Jerry Lewis.

[marie999]

17. I am not defending Jerry Lewis.

If they said something 5 years ago he could have defended himself.

[Paladin]

20. You most certainly ARE defending Jerry Lewis. (nt)

[obamanut2012]

38. You are literally defending him

lolz

[Cuthbert Allgood]

9. Making this something we can talk about

and making it clear that the discussions of it happening now aren't anything new?

[Cuthbert Allgood]

11. Normalizing the discussion of it?

Making it clear that people we may like may also be committing sexual assault so that we can't hide behind "I don't believe that about this person."

[doc03]

14. He was an arrogant asshole from what I have heard. Treated service people like

crap belittling them in public.

[AngryOldDem]

40. Not to mention "his kids".

Many deeply resented him for making them objects of pity. He helped MDA tremendously, don’t misunderstand — our family knew two families who benefited greatly from MDA, including paying for a lift van — but his fawning could be over the top.

[hamsterjill]

19. Oh good grief!

He’s been dead five years? And this comes out now?

He may have been an ass. I don’t know. But I do know that he raised millions for sick kids. No person is ever all good or all bad.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

22. There's never a bad time to talk about sexual assault.

And while his MDA fundraising certainly was effective, it also set disability rights back every year by evoking pity and centering abled people who could help, instead of empowering disabled people to help themselves. Many in the disabled community can't stand him or his approach.

[mentalsolstice]

26. Yep, he was known dirtbag amongst the disability community & advocates. nt

[hamsterjill]

28. Well hell.

Let’s just hate on everybody, shall we?

Is there anyone virtuous enough they pass muster?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

29. As you say, there's good and bad in everyone. Is mentioning the bad "hating on"?

[hamsterjill]

32. When it's five years after someone has died.

I think that qualifies. Just my opinion.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

35. What would be the appropriate time limit for talking about the bad side of people?

[hamsterjill]

36. Once they are dead, what's the point?

They can’t hurt anyone else any more. They aren’t alive to defend accusations. Isn’t it appropriate that an accused be able to defend against accusations levied? Or do we just automatically believe the accuser?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

39. .

Once they are dead, what's the point?

In the case of sexual harassment/assault, it's always useful to talk about people's experiences. It can help other survivors or supporters to learn more about what harassment/assault looks like, it lets supporters know what they can do in the moment or afterwards if someone they know comes to them with allegations, that kind of thing.

They can’t hurt anyone else any more.

No, but we can give the survivors the support they need while they're here.

They aren’t alive to defend accusations.

That's certainly a problem for every dead person.

Isn’t it appropriate that an accused be able to defend against accusations levied? Or do we just automatically believe the accuser?

Legally, you can't slander the dead, so whatever. "Automatically believe the accuser" is also scare language designed to silence victims.

[hamsterjill]

41. Whatever...

Look, we disagree.

I’m not trying to scare anyone. But I don’t believe that every accusation is true either. I think every accusation should be considered, but there are always two sides and both sides need to be heard. When one cannot be heard, I think that matters.

Thanks for the spirited discussion. I think we’ve covers this as much as needed. Have a great rest of your day.

[tenderfoot]

31. No worries. Everyone hated him when he was still alive.

Most notably... his own kids.

[Celerity]

54. sex abuse is really bad, not some minor thing you can just gloss over and normalise

[hamsterjill]

61. I'm not trying to normalize anything.

I just don’t think every accusation should result in a person being automatically guilty. That’s why we have a system of justice in this country - both criminal and civil venues.

[Sympthsical]

59. Jimmy Saville raised money for sick kids

So . . . there's that.

[3catwoman3]

27. I always found Jerry Lewis to be...

…creepy.

[milestogo]

42. and annoying

But for some reason he was popular.

[3catwoman3]

45. Some of his physical comedy looked to me as if...

…he was mocking people with disabilities. Even as a little girl, I found that very offensive.

[Kablooie]

30. In the 60s it was accepted that powerful men abused women.

Yes it was horrifying for the women but society accepted and even expected it.
It was a different world back then when a new vacuum cleaner was advertised as a wonderful Christmas gift for a wife.

[nini]

33. This does not surprise me

He always gave me the creeps for some reason.

[Kingofalldems]

37. I remember sitting through The Errand Boy twice.

Thought Jerry was a genuinely nice person until I saw him on a couple talk shows. He really showed what a jerk he was.

[frogmarch]

43. I guess in the fifties

it was considered OK for women to be treated like sex toys.

I was just entering my teens in the early 50s, and my mom, a college graduate, told me that if I wanted to succeed in a future career, I should be "nice" to the men in charge. She also warned me to never, ever, let a man know if it so happens that I am smarter than he.

[3catwoman3]

46. I got the same advice about not flaunting my intellectual...

…abilities in the early-to-mid 1960s from my mother.

[milestogo]

50. I was told "its a man's world" by my mother.

True, but not an empowering thing to tell a young girl.

[no_hypocrisy]

44. He thought he was Buddy Love.

[XanaDUer2]

47. Lol! Nt

[XanaDUer2]

48. Kick nt

[MissMillie]

49. Hard to pick a side on this one

for all the reasons that people are debating in this thread.

I get all of the arguments.

Victims should speak out and get closure.
A dead person can't defend him/herself.
He was a prick
He did good things

Turns out everyone could be right.

[milestogo]

51. Is it time to stop bashing Hitler?

No, its never time.

And if someone behaved really badly, they deserve to be bashed for a long time.

[Celerity]

56. +1

[MissMillie]

57. Hitler's actions were proven and well documented

I would say that 99.9999999% of the time I come down on the side of the victims, and I tend to lean that way this time as well. It's what my gut tells me.

I'm also saying that I understand the other argument.

Shades of gray all over the place on this one. I won't fault anyone for picking either side on this particular situation.

[themaguffin]

52. People need to come to terms with the fact that it's likely that

most men in Hollywood engaged in some form of harassment or more... and you can bet that it was worse the further you go back in time.

Back in the old studio system, studios basically owned the talent, so how women got roles etc. was definitely more in favor of men in power than even in recent years.

[AngryOldDem]

55. As a reference, see Fatty Arbuckle.

Raped a starlet. Tore her apart internally and she died.

[The Grand Illuminist]

53. Are they trying to make Lewis into an American Jimmy Saville?

Except the victims are older.