A day after her bombshell announcement, actress Afton Williamson has identified both the actor who she’s accused of sexual harassment along with the hair stylist who she’s also accused of racial discrimination.
Over the past weekend, Williamson announced on her Instagram that she would not be returning as the lead on her ABC network show ‘The Rookie’. At first when the news drop, it was reported that the departure was an amicable one.
However with Afton’s Instagram post, we now know that it was the farthest thing from amicable. She stated that her complaints of sexual harassment and racial bullying went ignored by the show’s production.
She also went into detail regarding a fellow actor sexually harassing her, along with incidents where the head of the hair department was racially discriminated against her as well. In the post, she said that she brought her concerns up to the show-runner and the executive producer.
She was assured that things were going to be handled and that these problems would not continue into next season. However when another sexual assault happened at the show’s Wrap Party, that’s when she knew her concerns weren’t being taken seriously.
In a new Instagram post from Monday, Williamson named Demetrius Grosse as the actor who was sexually harassing her. She went on to name Sally Ciganovich as the crew member who was continuously making racially charged remarks towards her. Ciganovich was only after fired after word of Afton’s harassment complaint made it to HR. ABC entertainment president Karey Burke spoke on the allegations at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.
“I learned, alongside my colleagues, at the end of June that there were allegations and that an investigation had been launched by eOne and I’m waiting for the results of that investigation, just as you are, to get more answers.”
She added, “I can trust the investigation because…the production company hired an independent third party to do the investigation. I’m hopeful that those results will be independent and trustworthy and anticipate they will be. At that time, those answers and those conclusions will help guide us about how to handle situations like that in the future if, in fact, there has been any sort of communication breakdown.”
