The Footlight Club announced it removed a cast member and had a producer step down from its upcoming show Roe due to past sexual abuse allegations of that actor.
In a post on The Footlight Club’s Facebook page (also embedded below) said it is “aware of past allegations of sexual abuse brought against a current cast member of our production of Roe.”
The director, production staff, cast and crew, were unaware of the allegations according to the post, and “once they came to light, were deeply affected by them.”
The post linked to the Club’s code of conduct, and said the club has a zero-tolerance for harassment of any kind.
“At this point we can share that we have removed the cast member in question from the cast of Roe, and had Roe’s producer step down,” said the Facebook post.
The FB post stated that there is “much more work” that needs to be done and the Board of Directors is determining how to best move forward. Certain comments were also removed from the Club’s social media pages “that used language that could trigger additional trauma without the needed context around the alleged harassment.”
The play Roe is about the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion and “cuts through the headlines and rhetoric to reveal the divergent personal journeys of lawyer Sarah Weddington and plaintiff Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) in the years following the fateful decision.” It is scheduled to open November 5.