Melissa McCarthy: I worked on ‘volatile, hostile set’ that made me ‘physically ill’
Melissa McCarthy is the latest celeb to reveal she had a horrific work experience in Hollywood.
The actress shared in a new interview with the Guardian that she once worked with someone who “ran such a volatile, hostile set” that it made her “physically ill.”
“My eyes were swelling up, I was absorbing all of this nuttiness,” she claimed.
“There were people weeping, visibly so upset by this one person.”
McCarthy did not name the individual causing the toxic work environment or whether the project was a movie or TV show.
Her rep did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
However, McCarthy, 52, further alleged that she was able to be “manipulated” by this unnamed person because they would fire people she “loved” to keep her “quiet.”
“It was very effective,” the “Little Mermaid” star said.
McCarthy shared she one day felt the need to stand up for herself and told her colleague, “‘It stops today!'”
“I just kept saying to them, it stops, it stops,” she added. “And I know now I’ll never keep quiet again.”
According to McCarthy’s IMDb, the beloved comedic actress has worked in more than 60 projects over the span of almost three decades, including hits like “Bridesmaids,” “Mike & Molly,” “Identity Thief” and “Nine Perfect Strangers.”
One of her most memorable roles was in the sitcom “Gilmore Girls,” in which she played Sookie St. James.
While it is unknown if the TV series is at the center of McCarthy’s new allegations, the show has been called out before by another co-star, Scott Patterson.
The actor, who played Luke Danes, said in August 2022 that he felt like a “meat stick” while filming one of the scenes because it was all about “the butt, the butt, the butt.”
“I had to endure that through that entire scene and many takes,” Patterson previously alleged on a podcast.
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“It was the most disturbing time I have ever spent on that set, and I couldn’t wait for that day to be over.”
McCarthy, for her part, is not just in front of the camera but also behind the scenes.
She and her husband, Ben Falcone, run a production company, On the Day Productions, and she told the Guardian they do a “crazy check” in order to see if a new hire is “nice.”
“You know, we were so astounded and grateful at getting to build our own little worlds, we were like, ‘We have to build the one we’ve always talked about, where everybody gets to have an opinion and everyone is really nice,'” McCarthy explained.
“‘It’s going to run a lot better with no screamers or crazy egos bumbling around. Why would we risk destroying that?’”
