By KAYLA DEMICCO
Staff Writer
Yet another person in Hollywood has accusations of sexual assault against him and the first person to take a stand is a child. Finn Wolfhard, the young star from “Stranger Things,” has recently fired his agent, Tyler Grasham, due to sexual assault allegations. But, not only did he fire his agent, he completely left the talent agency, Agency for the Performing Arts (APA).
He took a humorous turn on the tragic event by saying “as the father of no daughter because I’m literally in 8th grade, I think sexual harassment is bad.”
Another young actor, Cameron Boyce (stars in multiple Disney shows and movies), Most recently “Descendants 2,” at 18-years-old, has also fired Grasham as his agent. It is unknown at this point if he will stay with the agency or not, according to his spokesperson.
APA sent out a statement after the big news broke saying, “Tyler Grasham’s employment with APA has been terminated, effective immediately.” They recently released another statement after the continuous allegations stating for clarification that “APA takes these allegations extremely seriously and investigating this matter. The agency said it has a neutral, independent investigator looking into the allegation, and that is company policy not to discuss confidential personnel matters.” Wolfhard’s bold move inspired other people who had worked with Grasham to come forward about his problematic past.
Former child actor now film director, Blase Godbe Lipman, also known as Blaise Embry, who made a couple appearances on Disney shows like “Pair of Kings” and “Suite Life on Deck,” as well as criminal justice shows like “Hawaii Five-O” and “CSI: NY,” shared an unpleasant experience with Grasham that involved underage drinking and sexual assault that happened about ten years ago.
Lucas Ozarowski, television and film editor, came forward via Facebook to say the same thing happened to him. He included that his pants were forcibly taken off and was inappropriately touched and grabbed.
One of the latest people to accuse Grasham of harassment is Jordan Gavaris, “Orphan Black” star, who is 28-years-old and came out as gay earlier this year. He took to Twitter to share his experience. He was 21-years-old when the harassment started with Grasham claiming that he could “protect” him and his sexuality from the public. Grasham put fear into Gavaris’s head saying that his career could fail if he were to decline his offer. The crude behavior only grew stronger after a dinner invitation was declined over the phone. Grasham told Gavaris that he was overreacting to the sexual assault of minors but Gavaris stayed true to himself and stuck with his opinion.
Another victim to accuse Grasham is Michael Podraza, a business and legal affairs manager at Lionsgate.
“I wish I would have spoken up sooner,” he said. “I feel guilty for keeping quiet until now. This industry needs to make significant changes in order to protect young people.”
People are saying that it’s ironic (and disappointing) for yet another sexual predator to be exposed in Hollywood just about two weeks after countless victims of the Harvey Weinstein scandal had come forward to share their traumatizing past. It’s disappointing in the aspect that these people were entrusted and abused their power of notoriety and lost all in the entertainment industry.
