Actresses & Co-Stars Allege Jerry Lewis Sexually Harrassed, Assaulted Them

deadline.com:

In a feature — and accompanying short film — for Vanity Fair’s annual “Hollywood Issue,” a number of the so-called King of Comedy’s leading ladies, female co-stars and many other aspiring, talented women allege that Jerry Lewis sexually harassed and, in at least one case, sexually assaulted them.The feature story and short film are based in part on interviews conducted by Emmy-winning Allen v.

Farrow filmmakers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick who, in 2017, began investigating Hollywood’s long history of abuse. They found that some of the most severe accusations involved Lewis.Among those interviewed for the piece are Hope Holiday, who appeared in The Ladies Man with Lewis the year after she broke out in Billy Wilder’s The Apartment; Jill St.

John, who starred opposite the comedian in Who’s Minding the Store?; Anna Maria Alberghetti, who worked with him on Cinderfella; Karen Sharpe, who played the star’s love interest in The Disorderly Orderly, comic/actress/Oscar-nomninated writer Renée Taylor; singer Lainie Kazan; and others.The most serious allegations came from Sharpe and Holiday.Sharpe asserted that, after a costume fitting in his office, Lewis dismissed the others present and physically assaulted her. “He grabbed me,” she alleged to Vanity Fair. “He began to fondle me.

He unzipped his pants. Quite frankly, I was dumbstruck.”Sharpe indicates she rebuffed him and a furious Lewis later retaliated.