Both Olivia Munn and Charlize Theron have opened up about dealing with problematic men in power.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words by Charley Ross<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/07\/Charlize-and-Olivia-scaled.jpg” alt=”Olivia and Charlize” title_text=”Charlize and Olivia” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] An increasing number of actors \u2013 including Olivia Munn and Charlize Theron \u2013 are coming forward to call out toxic behaviour from Hollywood directors on set. Back in 2019 during an interview on the Howard Stern Show, Theron stated that a director she had worked with invited her for an audition at his house late at night, opened the door in his pyjamas and put his hand on her knee at one point. It was her first audition, and very early in her career.<\/p>\n ‘The little voice inside me definitely said, “This isn\u2019t right,” she recalled.’But then the other voice in me says, “Well, I don\u2019t know. Maybe it is right.”‘ She reopened the conversation about what happened to her on the Call Me Daddy podcast, in conversation with host Alex Cooper.<\/p>\n ‘This guy, he got a little nervous for a while there. I\u2019ve never said his name because honestly, I don\u2019t want the story to be about him. It\u2019s not because I\u2019m protecting him or anything, but he got nervous for a little bit,’ she said. \u2018Because he heard me tell the story, and he knew it was about him, and he wrote me a pretend letter trying to explain his behavior and how I must have misunderstood it, which is classic, isn’t it?\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-1702480820-scaled.jpg” alt=”Charlize Theron” title_text=”Christian Dior : Photocall – Paris Fashion Week – Womenswear Spring\/Summer 2024″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] \u2018And I just realised, like, I won’t even fucking say your name because you know you’re the scumbag,\u2019 she said. \u2018You know it’s you, and if anybody ever asked me about him, I would be completely honest. And he knows that. And I kind of like that he’s got to be on a hot seat. He doesn’t know when it’s going to come. I kind of like that a little more.\u2019<\/p>\n Theron added that she was \u2018furious’ with herself that she let herself ‘down\u2019 and the shame that came with that. ‘I was like, \u201cWho the f**k are you? Why the f**k would you allow that? Why?\u201d’ she recalled.<\/p>\n ‘I still get those feelings, because it\u2019s you know yourself so well and there\u2019s something that really kind of like breaks my heart to the core when people in this very luxurious manner talk about “Well, you know what, next time you should fucking say something. Like, don\u2019t wait 20 years.” This kind of like callous way of not wanting to believe. That\u2019s really what it boils down to.’<\/p>\n She described victims being asked why they didn\u2019t come forward sooner as like being called ‘a f**king pussy.’ Heartbreakingly, Theron also said that she didn\u2019t care what anyone else says about her experience because nobody could inflict more pain on her than the \u2018hurt\u2019 she did to herself over what happened.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”] ‘I think that we need to tell these stories so that we can understand that we\u2019re not alone,’ she told Cooper, who also recently accused her former university football coach of sexual harassment in her docuseries Call Her Alex. ‘I put a lot of blame on myself … that I didn’t say all the right things, and that I didn’t tell him to take a hike, and that I didn’t do all of those things that we so want to believe we’ll do in those situations.’<\/p>\n Theron has added that her experiences dealing with the director since hasn\u2019t given her the closure she needed. She recalled seeing a chance to remedy the situation when he offered her another acting role.<\/p>\n She agreed to a meeting ‘because I thought I had the opportunity [to confront him], I was going to have the moment I didn\u2019t have with him’. However, he didn\u2019t offer any apology or explanation, as he \u2018didn\u2019t want to address it\u2019.<\/p>\n ‘At that moment, it was clear to me that it wasn\u2019t his first time and that he had been doing this before and that other women had called him out. His way of handling it was just to talk over it and about the project.<\/p>\n ‘Unfortunately, it was not the moment I so wanted,’ Theron said. ‘That is the unfortunate thing about sexual harassment. You never get that moment where you feel like the tables are reversed and now he\u2019s finally getting it.’<\/p>\n She added that she ‘actually did disclose [the director’s] name’ in an interview but that ‘the journalist made the decision to not write his name.’<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″] Her story emphasises the true complexities for victims when they speak out against their abusers, the ways in which structures of power can work against victims, and can end up in making their own life worse. So it\u2019s really not as simple as naming and shaming your abuser.<\/p>\n Olivia Munn has also recently opened up on Dax Shepard\u2019s Armchair Expert podcast about her own problematic experiences with one of many directors of The Newsroom, also choosing not to name the director in question. She described the ways that he undermined her by pressuring her to only focus on her character\u2019s onscreen romance over other plot lines.<\/p>\n \u2018I just fought back so much,\u2019 she said. “It got to this place where there was one scene, and I was like, \u201cNo. I’m not doing [that].\u201d And he said, \u201cLook, it’s my job as a director to see all the different colours of the rainbow and you are looking at only one colour, and I don’t think you realise how you’re coming off.\u201d And I said, \u201cHow am I coming off?\u201d And he said, \u201cReally forceful and strong.\u201d And I said, \u201cGreat. That’s what I wanted.\u201d And I walked away.\u2019<\/p>\n Her issues with the unnamed director followed her from the project they worked together on to a new project, where he told the people in charge she was \u2018combative\u2019. She was “on the one-yard line” for a film role when she got a call from her manager, who said \u2018Hey, you’re gonna get the role. But first, I guess there’s another director who they know and he says that on The Newsroom, you were late all the time and really combative.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018He just was trying to bash me,\u2019 she said of the director in question. \u2018I still got the role. But I will always remember that, just because of our conflicts of how we approached a role, he wanted to ruin my chances of getting anything else.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2074419158-scaled.jpg” alt=”Olivia Munn” title_text=”96th Annual Academy Awards – Arrivals” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] In the face of so many #MeToo stories exposing the identity of victims\u2019 abusers, it has perhaps become normalised to name and shame. But we need to take a step back and consider this move is more complicated than it sounds. Vulnerable victims risk their own reputation and safety in some cases.<\/p>\n The very same existing power dynamic that makes it easy for powerful men (directors, in this case) to act this way also ensures victims find it difficult to speak out without their own careers, lives and reputations being affected as well as their abusers\u2019. Unfortunately, without a name to pin the blame on and request justice from this leads to speculation. And this can hurt victims even more, with their story splashed over the media but misinterpreted and exaggerated.<\/p>\n The decision to not disclose the identity of problematic characters in Hollywood isn\u2019t limited to women in the industry, either. Jason Isaacs recently opened up about \u2018bad behaviour\u2019 on set in an interview with Vulture, divulging that he once got pushed out of a shot by a prominent actor.<\/p>\n ‘Oh Jesus. Did worse than that. Was the worst bully ever and a global icon,’ Isaacs said. He continued. ‘Did all the old tricks of doing a completely different performance off-camera than on…Yeah, it sucked. I\u2019d never seen anything like it. Before, I would’ve licked the ground that this person walked on.’<\/p>\n Isaacs\u2019 comments were focused on other actors\u2019 bad behaviour, which included \u2018selfishness, cruelty, bullying, or people complaining to the person who\u2019s getting them dressed, who doesn\u2019t get in a year what they earn in a day to pick their filthy underwear off the floor\u2019.<\/p>\n ‘That, or not turning up, or going home early, or thinking they know better than the director, or being on crack and calling prostitutes to their trailer. I come across all that stuff.’<\/p>\n When asked why he wouldn\u2019t name and shame, Isaacs responded that he only could if he \u2018won the lottery\u2019, suggesting he\u2019d lose out on roles and money if he did. ‘I\u2019m not so stupid as to even give hints or clues about who those people are,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n The fact that a white, middle-aged man with power and experience in many huge titles such as Harry Potter and The White Lotus \u2013 as well as talented women such as Munn and Theron \u2013 still don\u2019t feel comfortable naming a difficult dynamic or person proves that Hollywood still has an abuse problem \u2013 in that victims and witnesses are still being punished for speaking out.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photos: <\/b>Getty<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Both Olivia Munn and Charlize Theron have opened up about dealing with problematic men in power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":11706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-news"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11700"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11773,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11700\/revisions\/11773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘i put a lot of blame on myself.’<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]