Sexual misconduct allegations against entertainer Craig McLachlan have signalled the urgent need for the Australian entertainment industry to clean its act up.
The level of abuse, which surfaced with television star Don Burke following the U.S. scandals with Harry Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, is just the tip of this iceberg. The Australian entertainment industry (and I mean music, radio, television, theatre … everything) has got away with bullying and abuse for far too long.
McLachlan is the latest celebrity to be outed for sexual misconduct. He won’t be the last. It also isn’t just be about celebrities. Executives will fall one by one this year as news of a destructive culture continues to surface. This is not about the abuse of sex, it is about the abuse of power.
In McLachlan’s case a number of warning signs were ignored. Fellow Rocky Horror star Christie Whelan Browne is a major name in Australian theatre. She is arguably a bigger name in theatre than McLachlan but he has tabloid celebrity in his favour fuelling his ego. The fact she has put her name forward in this latest scandal will make a sometimes grubby industry take notice.
To those claiming that I did this for money:
A) There are no paid interviews.
B) I have paid my own legal fees
C) I risked never being hired again.I just don’t understand where you think I’m getting any money?
— Christie Whelan (@Christie_Whelan) January 8, 2018
A lot of this is about a star’s ego and the gutless management who allow them to get away with it. The ABC heard how Browne and fellow actors Angela Scundi and Erika Heynatz did complain about McLachlan’s behaviour but their complaints were ignored (and now even denied).
McLachlan’s and Rock Horror Show producers The Gordon Frost Organisation have “mutually agreed it is not appropriate for him to continue in the current production of the show”.
McLachlan also stars in the TV series ‘The Doctor Blake Mysteries’. Production of the next season of the show has also been suspended despite no complaints ever being received about McLachlan or any other cast member during production of the five previous seasons.
The toxic work culture in the entertainment industry means the workings of the industry needs an immediate review. Part of McLachlan’s excuse for his behaviour on the Rocky Horror Show was about taking the role-play of his character Dr Frank-n-Furter too far. Maybe, but the producers of the show (and many other entertainment executives clearly do not have the right guidelines in place to make a production or show safe for all employees.
Craig McLachlan’s career is toast, at least for the time being. However, there are a lot more ‘Craig McLachlan’s’ out there. Some will question their actions as a result of this and make amends. Others will continue to offend until there are called out. The clean-up has begun but it will take a long time to clear out the muck still within the entertainment business.
