The casting couch is alive and well
Remember this candid? Charlotte Kirk, who plays the woman chatting with Claude Becker in the first gallery scene of Ocean’s 8, tweeted it in February of 2017.
Richard Armitage and Charlotte Kirk, tweeted by Kirk at the wrap of her work on Oceans 8, February 21, 2017.
Kirk is now at the center of a scandal involving Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara; she is alleged to have pressured him, along with billionaire James Packer and director Brett Ratner, for roles at Warner Bros. in exchange for sex. Ratner has been at the center of sexual harassment / abuse claims before.
I’d like to make a joke about pressuring studio executives for a role with Richard Armitage, but this whole story is so revolting.
Me + Richard Armitage 
So these rich, powerful men were completely ensnared and are now helpless against a temptress of a woman? That’s the angle they’re taking? Huh…Those poor rich, powerful men…I mean, I’m sure they just couldn’t help themselves, right?
I mean, I wasn’t there, maybe it all really did play out that way and she’s some controlling person who is making their lives miserable, but nobody forced them to start a relationship with her either…You’re very right. All of this is incredibly revolting.
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Her publicity has always created the impression that she’s a woman on the make, but I agree that the men are equally or more responsible. All you have to do, men, is say “no.”
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I also think there’s gotta be more to this story — if a lawyer is involved, was there blackmail potential here?
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I find the story a little confusing as to who is the aggressor in this ‘casting couch’ scenario. I’m left wondering if Kirk was the victim or the victimizer. What I’m trying to say is, did she purposely, actively seek out these men, begin relationships with the sole purpose of using that relationship to her advantage and then use threats of exposing them if she did not get what she wanted. I’m sure she was quite aware of Brett Ratner’s reputation. Which of course in no way excuses them of their willing participation. Interesting that this has now hit so close to home to RA. (Not implying anything there! – he’s one of the few actors I think would be involved in a #metoo scandal). But, you never really know about people (again, not casting dispersions at RA!).
However, as a side note, it kind of bugged me that RA still seemed supportive (that’s just an impression I got, I don’t think he said anything at all directly about the situation) of Kevin Spacey long after the revelations of his attempted sex with a 14 year old, drunk or otherwise became public.
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After thinking about it for a bit, my Kevin Spacey comment may be a little unfair – things said in the past can be regurgitated in articles which make things from previous interviews seem new.
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I can’t remember that Armitage has ever been asked about either Spacey or the #metoo question in any interview.
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No, I don’t think so either. I am sure though that he has a few times stated he admired Stacey and especially enjoys House of Cards. I’m not reading into that as ‘support’ for Stacey in light of the allegations but it just bothered me every time I read that Armitage had said that. Stacy being in charge of The Old Vic when RA was doing The Crucible I’m sure had a huge role in Armitage’s statements regarding Stacy. However, I had read RA saying how much he enjoyed House of Cards and admired Stacey after the allegations were public, but again, the timeline RA said those things may have been before the Stacey allegations and then published as part of an RA interview afterwards. I have no idea where Armitage thoughts are feelings are regarding Stacey or the allegations.
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What I am really thinking about this is in situations like these, being in the business, how much do you know (there must be quite a rumour mill in the biz so how much you know I guess would depend on how much you choose to tune it to it), how much do you speak up and how much do you turn a blind eye to when it comes to your professional life compared to your personal life.
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Here’s some more detail. Gotta love the British press.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
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I dunno, seems like Ratner gave her sage advice there. She does come across as someone who knew exactly what she was doing. But, then again, I don’t know who may be pulling the strings in the slant of the story. So hard to know the intent and purpose of what you read nowadays. What is the truth anymore. Real news is fake news, inconvenient truths are ‘fake news’. Things in general all are so confusing now; it’s just all so frustrating.
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Hmm. Well, this is the Times (of London), so it is fairly reliable. Vanity Fair is fact-checked. I agree that there is such a thing as selective reporting, but I don’t think that it’s impossible to figure out what is actually happening, even based on reporting. The difference between these pieces lies in the details reported, not in the ultimate story. The libel / slander laws are different in the U.S. and UK — in the UK, the defendant must be able to prove that what they said was true. So I assume that the Times has a source that substantiates their statements, or they’d be liable to suit.
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Is this possibly an attempt at “HeToo” – as in men trying to present themselves as victims of sexual harassment of sorts? I mean, I am not automatically inclined to believe Ms Kirk’s denial because she is a woman. But it just seems so unlikely that a powerful company CEO is pressured into anything by a young woman- promise of sex or not. Whatever it is – there is still sexism a side issue here at least.
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I’m trying to figure out “cui bono” — it doesn’t seem to me like any of the participating parties really benefits from exposure here. Kirk’s career is going to be destroyed, presumably. Ratner is already the multiple target of sexual misconduct accusations and this is going to be hard on both Tsujihara’s position and his marriage (presumably).
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That’s it – it doesn’t really seem as if anyone benefits? IDK, I am going to sound like an octogenarian now, but disregarding who is the culprit and who is the victim in this scenario, I just found the whole story seedy and undignified…
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So story is that this actress pressured these executives for roles in return for sex. We don’t have the full true story but any behaviour or action that strips a human being of the self-respect and self-esteem is abusive. If this woman did this, it could have repercussions to the ground the #metoo campaign has gained. Ruins the creditability for any other woman that comes forward. It is very sad.
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I don’t thnk we have information that makes the beginning of the episode, or anyone’s motivation, clear — but I don’t know how it really impacts on #metoo. Kirk hasn’t accused anyone of harassment and indeed her statement asserts that she has no problem with any of the men.
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here’s another article: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/i-need-be-careful-texts-reveal-warner-bros-ceo-promoted-actress-apparent-sexual-relationship-1192660
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Why do I get the feeling she will, er, Kardashian the situation. I mean she was pretty forgettable yet forgettable finds ways to remain remembered.
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Ewww.
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Tsujihara apologizes to his colleagues: https://www.fin24.com/Companies/warner-bros-ceo-apologises-to-employees-for-personal-mistakes-20190310
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[…] information from the Kevin Tsujihara / Charlotte Kirk scandal: Bryan Singer’s been fired from Red Sonja. Tsujihara has since apologized to his colleagues. […]
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Richard Armitage tangentially related | Me + Richard Armitage said this on March 16, 2019 at 10:04 pm |
[…] Pursuant to this story, which we talked about a week or so ago. I would love to know what Armitage thinks about this (or […]
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Kevin Tsujihara leaves Warner Bros. | Me + Richard Armitage said this on March 18, 2019 at 9:08 pm |
[…] (whom Armitage worked with in both Cold Feet and Cleopatra. More on the Charlotte Kirk backstory here. Meanwhile, the Ocean’s 8 marketer has been […]
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Richard Armitage tangentially related | Me + Richard Armitage said this on August 11, 2019 at 11:46 pm |
[…] with Kevin Tsujihara at Warner Bros. led to the end of his career there a few years ago (links here). And now, news of a sexual encounter and financial settlement afterwards seems to have been the […]
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More from the casting couch? | Me + Richard Armitage said this on August 18, 2020 at 11:11 pm |
Poor men. Must be so difficult to have to follow your boner around and not being able to decide anything for yourself.
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It’s a puzzle, but I think it’s power that’s the motivator more than sex. It’s not otherwise explicable to me. Sex is just the reason cited to explain why the men couldn’t control themselves.
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