More actors are opening up about the widespread culture of abuse in Hollywood in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Former actor turned filmmaker Blaise Godbe Lipman says Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) agent Tyler Grasham sexually assaulted him in 2007 when Lipman was a teenager. Lipman first made the accusation in a Facebook post lending his story to the #MeToo campaign without naming the accused. However, he tells the Wrap that after Grasham “poked†him on Facebook following the post after a decade of no contact, Lipman decided to name him and share the full story. According to Lipman, when he was 17 or 18, he had a dinner meeting with Grasham during which he claims Grashman “fed†him alcohol and “got [him] drunk†despite being underage. After the meeting, Lipman claims Grasham sexually assaulted him at Lipman’s home. (He isn’t sure if the assault occurred after he turned 18.) He says that Grasham later had his friends “drunklenly call [him] and berate [him]†to keep him quiet about the incident, and threatened his future in the industry.
Lipman is sharing the story now, he says, because Grasham still represents minors — Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard is a client — and Lipman believes the agency is aware of his misconduct. “APA Agency has kept this man employed, working with kid actors. I find it incredibly difficult to believe they do not know of his predatory behavior, using his position within the company to prey on naive kids,†he wrote on Facebook. The Wrap reports that other agents at the company have reported Grasham to HR for stringing along teen actors with no intention of signing them to the agency since at least 2013. Grasham and APA did not respond to the Wrap’s requests for comment about the allegations. After the Weinstein news broke, APA, which represents at least one of his accusers, released a statement saying it was “deeply disturbed†and would uphold the “highest ethical standards.â€
Update, October 20: Another person has come forward to accuse Grasham of sexual assault. In a Facebook post, a man named Lucas Ozarowski says that after a party for another APA agent, while at Grasham’s home, Grasham allegedly “pulled [Ozarowski’s] pants down†and “grabbed [his] genitalia.†“I had to forcibly remove his hand and got up and left his house,†Ozarowski says. He also posted screenshots of text conversations allegedly with Grasham from 2015 in which Grasham appears to acknowledge the groping, saying “Stop. I flirt.†and “Sorry. I won’t†when Ozarowski tells him to restrain himself. He is also seen requesting “back rubs†and to “cuddle†with Ozarowski. In a 2016 conversation in which Ozarowski brings up the alleged groping, Grasham tells him, “I said I was sorry.â€