Agent of Young Actor "Of Stranger Things" Fired For Sexual Abuse Claims
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APA agent Tyler Grasham has been fired from the Hollywood agency following a sexual assault claim made against him, EW has confirmed.
“Tyler Grasham’s employment with APA has been terminated, effective immediately,” Manfred Westphal, head of communications for APA, said in a statement to EW.
EW has learned that earlier Friday, Stranger Things and It star Finn Wolfhard fired Grasham and parted ways with the agency. The 14-year-old actor’s decision to leave the agency comes a few days after multiple accusations were leveled at the agent by former clients, including Blaise Godbe Lipman, who has appeared in episodes of Weeds and Hawaii-Five-O.
Wolfhard wasn’t alone in his actions; Descendants star Cameron Boyce also fired Grasham, EW has confirmed, though his future with the agency remains to be seen.
Originally, actor-turned-filmmaker Lipman (a.k.a. Blaise Embry) joined in on the #MeToo movement to share his story of assault at the hands of a “prominent talent agent from the firm APA” when he was 17. Then, according to Lipman, after he came forward, he received a “poke” on Facebook from Grasham, which led Lipman to pen a follow-up social media post outing Grasham as the assaulter.
The allegations against Grasham come two weeks after the initial New York Times exposĂ© detailing “decades” of sexual misconduct by producer Harvey Weinstein. Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Kate Beckinsale, Heather Graham, Rose McGowan, Cara Delevingne, and Mira Sorvino are among the women who have come forward accusing Weinstein of assault, harassment, or rape. Last week in a statement through a representative, he denied claims of sexual assault: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”
“The positive thing about the attention the Weinstein scandal has had, is it’s no longer about Harvey,” wrote Lipman. “The conversation has moved on to the size of this epidemic and how to dismantle the system that protects these predators. And it’s given space and courage for victims to speak up, against their abuse. This is bigger than Weinstein.”
The Wrap first reported Wolfhard’s exit from APA, while Deadline broke the Boyce news.
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