Actor Charlyne Yi from the United States has reported that while working on Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s next Apple TV+ series, they suffered physical and psychological torture.
The claims were made on Instagram by Yi, who goes by they/them pronouns, who stated they were made to leave the Time Bandits television series, which was shot in New Zealand between 2022 and 2023.
They stated that after that, they were not given payment for their supposed injuries, which included PTSD and a back injury.
Yi stated, without using names, that they were informed they might leave the show at any time.
They further claimed that they were “gaslit by coworkers, producers, and HR” and that they were assured they wouldn’t experience any more physical abuse if they submitted to the unidentified alleged abuser, who is thought to be male.
Yi stated that despite their repeated attempts to voice their opinions, they had received “death threats,” warnings of “being blacklisted” in the industry, and threats of “being sued.”
They continued by saying that they were unable to “sleep, disassociating from chronic pain, and even stand straight without shooting pains.”
In a second Instagram post, Yi stated, “I want my worker’s compensation so I can heal my back and PTSD from the physical assaults and psychological abuse on the Time Bandits set.”
“What institutions and circumstances make it unsafe to speak up?” is a better question to ask than “why did it take them so long to speak up?” is Yi’s caption for the lengthy post.
According to a source who spoke with Variety, Yi was injured in an incident that allegedly happened on camera when they were filming a scene and featured another actor scooping them up.
According to the site, the source refuted Yi’s claim that his application for workers’ compensation was turned down, but they did not deny that Yi had a back problem.
The actor left the production before filming was completed, the insider confirmed. Speaking to the news site, the source stated that after Yi made the claims, an official inquiry was carried out; however, the production firm was unable to provide evidence to support their assertions.
Yi was then allegedly given the choice to depart before the end of filming or to carry on working. According to the source, the performer was given the option to quit without having their contract enforced and was promised payment for every episode in which their character was hired to appear.
In response to the accusations, Paramount, the TV show’s production company, released the following statement: “We take all concerns that are raised to us very seriously, and the safety of our cast and crew is very important to us.”
“When the complaint was filed, Paramount Television Studios looked into the claims that were made known to us in detail. Additional measures were taken to address concerns, even though all investigations are confidential and we are unable to comment on specifics.
Waititi’s agent allegedly declined to comment when Variety contacted them. They were contacted by Paramount TV Studios.
