Sydney (AFP) – Academy award-winner Geoffrey Rush was accused in court on Tuesday of inappropriately touching a female costar during an Australian rendition of ‘King Lear.’
Eryn Jean Norvill said that the ‘Tailor of Panama’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star had made her feel “belittled, embarrassed and shamed” when the pair acted together in the Shakespeare play in 2015-2016.
She told a court hearing that he stood over her during rehearsal “licking his lips” and once on stage deliberately ran his hand in a manner that was “slow, light and pressured across my breast.”
“I believed that he had done it deliberately,” national broadcaster ABC reported Norvill as saying.
Rush, who won a best actor Oscar award for his portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in the film ‘Shine’, is not being charged with any misconduct.
The testimony came because he is suing Sydney’s Daily Telegraph for defamation after they printed allegations that he behaved inappropriately toward a female actress.
Norvill is the latest in a series of witnesses to take the stand in the case.
Most have testified that they saw no evidence of Rush behaving improperly.
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