Watertown-native Eliza Dushku received a $9.5 million settlement from CBS after she alleged her role on the network’s show “Bull” was cut after she confronted about inappropriate comments made to her by the show’s star.
Dushku and CBS went through mediation, and the $9.5 million settlement was reached. The figure was based on the amount she would have been paid for being on the show for four years, according to the New York Times.
Details of the confidential settlement came to light during an investigation started by the CBS Corp. board to look into multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against the company’s former chief executive, the New York Times reports.
In the story, Duskhu declined comment. Weatherly said he was mocking the script when he made the jokes, and was “mortified” when Dushku told him the comments had offended Dushku, according to the article.
CBS released a statement that said, in part:
“The allegations in Ms. Dushku’s claims are an example that, while we remain committed to a culture defined by a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace, our work is far from done.”
Read the New York Times article by clicking here.
For Dushku, 2018 has been an eventful year, with the CBS settlement is just the latest reason she made the headlines.
Dushku became a public face of the #MeToo movement in January when she revealed she had been sexually molested by a leading Hollywood stunt coordinator when she was 12 years old while working on a film.
In July, a studio picked up the biopic on famed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe on which Dushku and her brother Nate had worked on since 2002. The movie, starring Matt Smith, showed in the Tribeca Film Festival in April, and is due to be released in March 2019.
In August, Dushku married Peter Palandjian, a former professional tennis player and chief executive of Boston-based Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation. They got engaged in June 2017.
In recent years Dushku spoke out about her struggles with drugs and alcohol, and in November she announced she had been sober for 10 years. She has shared her experiences with addiction publicly, and talked about how she is working to help others overcome the disease. She spoke at a candlelight vigil hosted by Watertown Overcoming Addiction in 2016.