Former costars, forever friends. Michael Weatherly‘s past colleagues are coming to his defense following an allegation that he made several sexually suggestive comments and jokes to Eliza Dushku while on the set of his series Bull.
“This man… I love, respect, trust, and I KNOW. TWO decades of friendship and respect. The best. I love you @M_Weatherly Always and forever,” Pauley Perrette tweeted on Saturday, December 15, along with a picture of the two of them smiling. (Perrette, 49, and Weatherly, 50, worked together on NCIS from the series’ inception in 2003 until his exit in 2016.)
Sasha Alexander echoed Perrette’s sentiments, tweeting a picture of herself smiling with the actor on Saturday, along with the caption, “I have been in trenches w/ my friend @M_Weatherly. Always laughs, true friend & ❤️ as big as they come.” (Alexander, 45, and Weatherly were costars from 2003 to 2005, when her character, Caitlin Todd, was shot and killed.)
The New York Times reported on Thursday, December 13, that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress, 37, who appeared in a guest arc on the first season of Bull in 2017, was uncomfortable over remarks that the actor made in front of the cast and crew about her appearance.
According to the report, shortly after she confronted the actor about his behavior, she was written off the show, despite producer Glenn Gordon Caron saying he had plans to make her a series regular and a love interest for Weatherly.
The network eventually agreed to a confidential settlement that was the equivalent of what the actress would have earned if she’d remained on the show as a cast member for four seasons: $9.5 million.
Speaking to investigators in September, one month after she wed Peter Palandjian, Dushku told them that Weatherly said, “Here comes legs,” on a day when she was wearing a suit. On another occasion, he allegedly said, in front of the cast and crew, that he would bend her over his leg and spank her. She also claimed that he made an inappropriate comment about having a threesome with her and another cast member. Weatherly told investigators that he was joking and apologized to the star in a statement to the Times.
Dushku’s settlement came to light during an investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct made by multiple women against the network’s former chief executive Les Moonves.
