Since the Harvey Weinstein story broke a mere few weeks ago, a slew of allegations of ugly abuse in Hollywood have also come to light. For many, these recent allegations against powerful figures have empowered them to come forward with their own stories.
After being kept quiet for 30 years due to a confidential settlement, former actress Caitlin O’Heaney revealed her own Hollywood horror story to Buzzfeed News. In a story that ran yesterday evening, O’Heaney recounted landing a 1989 audition for the lead female role in The Doors opposite Val Kilmer. The audition, however, did not go as expected.
While the pair ran the scene, O’Heaney said Kilmer suddenly hit her in the face and pushed her to the ground. “When I got to the room and Val Kilmer picked me up and shaked me, throwing me down to the floor,” said O’Heaney. “Stone just stood there the whole time laughing.”
The scene, which O’Heaney received days prior, depicted an argument between the couple, but there was any indication that her scene partner would become so unexpectedly violent. O’Heaney recalled that Stone then walked her out, telling her “that got kind of wild.”
“I went down to my car and I cried for about 20 minutes,” said O’Heaney. The actress filed a police report a month later:
“Vict and susp (actor) were reading a script for a movie role, susp became angry and stuck vict on her face with his closed fist. Susp grabbed vict and pushed her to the floor. Susp jumped on vict + held her down.”
O’Heaney eventually settled with the film’s production company for $24,500 (a copy of the agreement was provided to Buzzfeed), which after taxes and attorneys fees, she said came to around $8,000.
“I was so traumatized that, against my better judgment, I signed that document, which says I can never speak about this,” she said. “If this was something that happened nowadays, I wouldn’t sign it.”
Stone and Kilmer’s reps have not commented, and this isn’t the first allegation that’s been made against Stone – the director defended Weinstein after the first expose ran and reportedly has his own history of sexual harassment allegations.