Oscar-winner Timothy Hutton is suing the producers of the TV show Leverage claiming they blacklisted him over a 1983 sexual assault allegation.
Hutton starred in the original run of the show between 2008 and 2012. The show was rebooted in July to stream on IMBD TV, but Hutton was replaced by former ER star Noah Wyle. Hutton claims the producers violated their contract and now owe him for the $3 million pay-or-play provisions.
More from far-left Variety:
The suit alleges that Electric did nothing to investigate the allegation and ignored evidence that Hutton’s representatives presented that challenged the claim. The suit also alleges that Electric has violated the pay-or-play provision of Hutton’s agreement and still owes him at least $3 million.
According to the suit, Hutton’s representatives had reached an oral agreement on terms of his participation in the show, which would have paid him $175,000 per episode, plus the opportunity to direct at least one episode per season. The suit also notes that the contract did not include a “morals clause.”
The allegation is absurd, one of those Catch-22s that sailed over the transom during the height of the #MeToo Terror.
Almost 40 years later, a woman came forward claiming Hutton raped her in 1983. Hutton says it’s a lie, that this woman has spent years extorting him for millions. The authorities in British Columbia, Canada took a look and didn’t move forward with prosecution.
And now, because it’s impossible for Timothy Hutton to prove he did not do something, to prove a negative, his career is ruined.
This is outrageous. On its face, it’s outrageous. But add to that the fact that these allegations were published by the left-wing fascists at BuzzFeed two years ago, and over those two years, no other alleged victims (that I know of) have come forward claiming Timothy Hutton acted inappropriately.
If Hutton is a rapist, where’s the pattern? Where are the other victims? You don’t do something like that once.
So this is how fascist Hollywood’s become… This man’s career is ruined by a 40-year-old allegation the authorities dismissed even though there are no other allegations of inappropriate behavior on Hutton’s part.
A woman can walk into a man’s life, hurl a Molotov cocktail without any proof, and that’s all it takes in Hollywood.
Here’s the bullshit response from the production company:
“We take allegations of sexual assault very seriously, especially when children are involved,” the company said. “Despite dealing with these allegations for years, Mr. Hutton failed to disclose them to us before or during negotiations for him to reprise his role in ‘Leverage: Redemption.’ Consequently, once we learned of the allegations in the press, we ceased negotiations with him and chose to move on without him. His baseless allegations against us are without merit and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves.”
But what if it’s true? What if he did rape her?
Well, here’s my answer to that stupid question: That’s not how it works, dummies. In America, decent people do not treat people as though they are guilty based on the unknown. In America, you are innocent until proven guilty. In America, we do not blacklist people over unproven allegations.
You see, that’s the beauty of being an American. We’re not required to discern the impossible. We’re not burdened with making impossible judgments. Either you prove the man is guilty, or he’s allowed to live his life like the rest of us. And no, the seriousness of the allegation doesn’t change that rule. What are we going to toss out our principles because someone claims Timothy Hutton cooked and ate their baby?
Listen, if he did, it was a monstrous act, and his youth is no excuse, especially when you are talking about a 14-year-old girl. But we don’t know if he did it, and we do know there have been no other allegations since. So unless you’re a Hollywood fascist, this isn’t even a tough call.
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