Update (December 8, 2017): Geoffrey Rush has filed a defamation lawsuit against an Australian newspaper for publishing what he called false and “spurious” allegations against him, BBC news reports.
Earlier: Geoffrey Rush has issued a statement denying an allegation of “inappropriate behavior” while performing in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of “King Lear.” Australia’s The Daily Telegraph initially reported that it “received a complaint alleging that Mr Geoffrey Rush had engaged in inappropriate behaviour.” The story did not provide details of the allegations, and did not say the behavior was sexual in nature. That article has since been removed from the Telegraph website, and all associated tweets deleted.
“The Company received the complaint when Mr Rush’s engagement with the Company had ended,” the STC said through a spokeswoman, according to Variety. “The Company continues to work with the complainant to minimise the risk of future instances of the alleged behaviour occurring in its workplace.”
In a statement issued through his lawyers, Rush adamantly denied the allegation, saying he “abhors any form of maltreatment of any person in any form.”
The statement continued:
Mr. Rush has not been approached by the Sydney Theatre Company and the alleged complainant nor any representative of either of them concerning the matter you have raised. In other words, there has been no provision of any details, circumstances, allegations or events that can be meaningfully responded to.
It is a great disappointment to Mr. Rush the STC has chosen to smear his name and unjustifiably damage his reputation in this way. Not to afford a person their right to know what has been alleged against them let alone not inform them of it but release such information to the public is both a denial of natural justice and is not how our society operates.
Rush starred in the STC’s “King Lear” production from November 2015 to January 2016.
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