Michael Weatherly's NCIS Co-Stars Defend Him in Wake of Bull Scandal: His Heart Is 'As Big As They Come'
In the wake of recent reports that Bull star Michael Weatherly made lewd comments to co-star Eliza Dushku on set, two of Weatherly’s former NCIS castmates are coming to his defense.
According to a Dec. 13 report by The New York Times, Dushku was poised to become a series regular on Bull after joining the CBS drama late in Season 1 as defense attorney J.P. Nunnelly. But Dushku said that Weatherly repeatedly made demeaning and crude comments about her during her time on the show, and when she lodged a formal complaint with the network, she was written off the show and later given a $9.5 million settlement from CBS.
Dushku claims that Weatherly made remarks about her appearance, bent her over his leg and spanked her in front of the cast and crew and suggested she wanted to have a threesome with him and a male crew member.
In separate tweets on Saturday, Pauley Perrette and Sasha Alexander — both of whom co-starred with Weatherly on NCIS — pledged their support for the actor.
“This man… I love, respect, trust, and I KNOW. TWO decades of friendship and respect,” Perrette wrote alongside a photo of her and Weatherly. “The best. I love you @M_Weatherly. Always and forever.”
Alexander echoed the sentiment, writing, “I have been in trenches w/ my friend @M_Weatherly. Always laughs, true friend & [a heart] as big as they come.”
In a statement to the Times, Weatherly apologized for his behavior, acknowledging that “what I said was both not funny and not appropriate, and I am sorry and regret the pain this caused Eliza.” But despite Dushku’s account that she was written off the show shortly after confronting Weatherly about his behavior, Weatherly denied having anything to do with her character being written out.
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