Afton Williamson quits 'The Rookie' alleging racism, sexual harassment on set

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Last Updated : Aug 06 2019 | 9:20 PM IST

Actress Afton Williamson has alleged that she was racially bullied, sexually harassed and assaulted on the sets of ABC's series 'The Rookie'.

The star on Sunday announced that she is exiting the cop drama after just one season because of discrimination and alleged sexual misconduct on the sets by the hair department head and others, Fox News reported.

"This season on 'The Rookie', I was sexually harassed by fellow actor Demetrius Grosse," she posted on Instagram.

"I was racially bullied and discriminated against and sexually assaulted by hair department head Sally Nicole Ciganovich," she wrote further.

In her original post over the weekend, she claimed that "bullying from the hair dept head escalated into a sexual assault at our wrap party," adding that she was sexually harassed by a recurring guest and that executive producers allegedly bullied her "throughout the filming of the pilot."

She also claimed that the network didn't take her complaints seriously.

"The sexual harassment though reported directly to the showrunner/EP remained undocumented and was not reported to HR (Human Resources) as promised," she wrote on Sunday.

Williamson wrote that she was asked to return for the second season and promised that "everything was handled."

"The investigation hadn't even begun and Season 2 had already started filming," she wrote on Sunday. "I turned it down and I walked."

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Entertainment One, the studio that produces 'The Rookie', had launched an ongoing investigation into Williamson's allegations.

An ABC Studios spokesperson said that they are taking the matter "very seriously," in a statement to Fox News on Sunday.

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First Published: Aug 06 2019 | 9:08 PM IST

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