Source: Tony Rivetti / Getty
UPDATE August 6, 2019 | 10:43 A.M. ET
In a new post, Williamson decided to identify the members of The Rookie crew who allegedly sexually harassed, bullied her, and more. After thanking fans for their support and love during this difficult time, she writes…
“This season on The Rookie, I was sexually harassed by fellow actor Demetrius Grosse. I was Racially Bullied and Discriminated against and Sexually Assaulted by Hair Department Head Sally Nicole Ciganovich.”
Grosse was a guest star, who played in five episodes of The Rookie. See Williamson’s post in its entirety below.
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Actress Afton Williamson won’t be returning for season 2 of The Rookie, but it is through no fault of her own. Williamson claims she experienced racism, sexual harassment, bullying and more on set where she portrayed an LAPD officer. She also alleges that her complaints were initially disregarded…
“I will not be returning for Season 2 of The Rookie. I owe it to you my amazing fans to share the Truth,” she began, before detailing her experience in filming the ABC series. She continued…
“Throughout the filming of the pilot, I experienced Racial Discrimination/Racially Charged inappropriate comments from the hair department and bullying from Executive Producers. During the Season, it continued along with Sexual Harassment from a recurring guest star and the racist commentary & bullying from the Hair Dept. Head escalated into Sexual Assault at our Wrap party. The Sexual Harassment though reported directly to the Showrunner/EP remained undocumented and was not reported to HR as promised. The Hair Dept. Head was fired ONLY after the sexual assault and NOT for an entire year of outward racism/racially charged language and bullying behavior in and out of the Hair and Makeup trailer. HR protocol was never adhered to following the above reports given by me to my Showrunner/EP and an investigation was never issued for any of my claims. The only time I was asked to participate in an investigation was after a meeting I called in June following our Season 2 announcement. This meeting included the Showrunner and two other producers as well as my agent and SAG-AFTRA Union Rep. It was clear to all present in the meeting that the Showrunner had not shared my reports with the any of the producers. After my initial report of sexual harassment, I was assured that the actor would be fired. I was also asked to film with him the very next day as a courtesy to the script, even though we had not begun filming the episode yet. This actor reappeared on our call sheet at the end of the season, I was even written in scenes with him. I asked the Showrunner about this and he admitted to me that the actor had not been fired nor had he gotten HR involved. I was asked to return this season, and promised that ‘everything was handled.’ The investigation hadn’t even begun and Season 2 had already started filming. I turned it down and I walked. Now is the best time in the world to be a woman and I have a platform so it’s time to use my Voice. Strength comes from within. It comes from Above. ‘Greater is He that is within Me than he that is in the world’ ❤️🙏🏽”
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Fans of the actress and show wasted no time responding and so far, Williamson seems to be getting a lot of support…
“LOVED you as TB, but super duper proud of you for standing up for yourself. best wishes and healing for you as you move on to the next. <3” – @mochazina
“Thank you so much for sharing. I [love] this show so much and you were a big reason for that. Personal integrity is absolutely an acceptable reason to walk away. I’m so sorry it came to that. So sorry they didn’t ‘get’ that. So sorry you endured that. Best wishes to future endeavors.💖” – @msjubilee23
“You did everything right. You reported the incidents, acted professionally throughout and you are 100% right to speak out publicly about this because this JUST KEEPS HAPPENING. I am just sorry that you lost your job. Stay strong.” – @catlaw2
Hit the flip for more photos of Williamson and let us know your thoughts on what she had to say about her time on The Rookie.
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