A theater company has been sued for allegedly failing to respond to charges of sexual harassment made by actor Christie Whelan Browne during the 2014 Rocky Horror Show.
Whelan Browne claims that Oldfield Entertainment, formerly GFO Entertainment, treated her unfairly when she complained that fellow actor Craig McLachlan had harassed her sexually while they were performing in a musical.
She had a contract to perform the lead role of Janet Weiss in the 2014 production of the Rocky Horror Show.
The case centers on alleged prejudice that the plaintiff claims to have encountered both during the performance and in Oldfield’s reactions to her concerns starting in 2017.
She blogged about it on X, the website that replaced Twitter. “I filed this application today with fear and anxiety but also certain in the knowledge that it is something I must do and that I will see it through to the end,” she said.
“I am aware that I deserved better treatment and a sense of security and respect at work.
I won’t accept that anything less than that is “just the way it is” because other women in the arts deserve more.
The theatre firm that produced the performance is the only defendant in the Federal Court complaint; McLachlan is not a party to it.
The actor was cleared of four counts of sexual assault against four women in December 2020 while he was portraying Frank N Furter in 2014.
The Gold Logie winner has consistently refuted accusations of misconduct.
He was accused of caressing, kissing, and groping actresses without their consent in the Rocky Horror stage production, Neighbours, City Homicide, and The Doctor Blake Mysteries, according to the evidence presented in that case.
