The sexual misconduct accusations made against Michael Douglas earlier this year rocked his family.
“My children and I were profoundly devastated by those allegations. And I was torn about where my absolute morals lie,” Catherine Zeta-Jones, who has been married to the actor since 2000, told The Times of London in an interview published on Sunday, November 25, referencing son Dylan, 18, and daughter Carys, 15. (Douglas is also the father of son Cameron, 39, with ex-wife Diandra Luker.)
“This woman came out of nowhere and accused my husband,” the Chicago star, 49, continued. “I had a very big conversation with him, with the kids in the room, and said, ‘Do you understand if more comes out …’”
In January, journalist Susan Braudy claimed that Douglas, 74, masturbated in front of her during a meeting in the late 1980s, when she worked for his production company. The Wall Street star told Deadline that the allegation was “a complete lie, fabrication, no truth to it whatsoever.”
“My kids are really upset, [and they have] to go to school worrying this is going to be in some article about me, being a sexual harasser,” he said at the time. “They’re scared and very uncomfortable.”
Zeta-Jones, who has been a public supporter of the #MeToo movement, told The Times that Douglas reassured her and their children that “there is no story here.”
“There was nothing to back it up at all,” she added. “For any accusation that comes out that isn’t backed up, that knocks the movement back 20 years.”
