Filmmaker James Cameron has praised actress Eliza Dushku's bravery for speaking up against stunt co-ordinator Joel Kramer for sexual misconduct.
On Saturday, Dushku came forward with the allegations of sexual abuse by Kramer while she was working on one of her earliest roles as the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in the 1994 film "True Lies".
Cameron, who wrote and directed "True Lies", praised the bravery of the actress, reports latimes.com.
"Had I known about it, there would have been no mercy. Now, especially. I have daughters. There's really no mercy now," he said.
"I haven't given a lot of thought to this specific situation. I just heard about it. But I mean, obviously, Eliza is very brave for speaking up, and I think all the women are that are speaking out and calling for a reckoning now," he said.
The director said he had not worked with Kramer since "True Lies" and acknowledged the need for an open and supportive system to report such misconduct.
"I know the other party - not well. He hasn't worked for me since then. The fact that this was happening under our noses and we didn't know about it, I think going forward it's important for all industries - certainly Hollywood - to create a safe avenue for people to speak up.
"That they feel safe and that anybody who might be a predator or an abuser knows that that mechanism is there … and that there will be consequences. I think we all collectively, just as a human race, have to do that. I don't think this is a Hollywood problem," Cameron added.
He hopes the current climate in Hollywood will yield films "about this stuff and we'll put something in place as an industry practice to do as much as we can to prevent it. Directors are historically pretty oblivious to interpersonal things that are happening on their set because they're focused and are the worst offenders at being focused on ‘what I am doing creatively?'"
Kramer has denied the allegations, calling them "outlandish and manipulated lies".
"I never sexually molested her. I'm sick to my stomach. It's not true. I think she's making this up in her imagination. This is all lies. Lies, lies, lies. This is just crazy. I treated her like a daughter. We all looked out for her," he said.
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