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Geoffrey Rush quits industry job after 'inappropriate behavior' claim

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Agence France-Presse

<p>SYDNEY, Australia - Academy award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush resigned as head of an Australian film industry body Saturday after allegations surfaced against him of &quot;inappropriate behavior&quot;.</p><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/AACTAawards/photos/a.150755971684462.33602.150246321735427/150757551684304/?type=3&amp;theater" data-width="auto"> </div><p>Rush, who has denied any wrongdoing, stepped down as president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), which he had led for several years, the organization said in a statement.</p><p>&quot;AACTA acknowledges the decision today of Geoffrey Rush to voluntarily step aside as president of AACTA and accepts and respects his decision to do so,&quot; it said.</p><p>&quot;We have been deeply concerned about the situation and support a course of action that both respects Geoffrey&#x27;s rights to the presumption of innocence and due process, but also acknowledges good corporate governance in these circumstances,&quot; it added, declining further comment. </p><p>Rush, 66, took the step after the Sydney Theatre Company revealed last week that it had received a complaint alleging that the veteran Australian actor had engaged in &quot;inappropriate behavior&quot; when working with the company.</p><p>No further information about the nature of the behavior or the identity of the person who made the complaint was revealed, but Australian media reports said the allegations related to Rush&#x27;s time playing King Lear for the company in 2015 and 2016.</p><p>In a statement to public broadcaster ABC, Rush said he was unaware of the details of the allegations against him.</p><p>&quot;The moment I became aware of rumours of a complaint I immediately phoned and spoke to senior management at the Sydney Theatre Company asking for clarification about the details of the statement. They refused to illuminate me with the details,&quot; he said.</p><p>Neil Armfield, a theatre and film director who worked with Rush on King Lear, told the ABC he did not believe the allegations.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s not correct, there&#x27;s no basis... I absolutely do not believe it,&quot; he was quoted as saying.</p><p>Rush&#x27;s lawyer, Nicholas Pullen, told the broadcaster that it was &quot;a great disappointment&quot; to Rush that the theatre company &quot;has chosen to smear his name and unjustifiably damage his reputation in this way&quot;.</p><p>Rush won the Best Actor Academy Award in 1997 for his role in &quot;Shine&quot; and is one of the few actors to have also won a primetime Emmy and a Tony Award.</p>

<p>SYDNEY, Australia - Academy award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush resigned as head of an Australian film industry body Saturday after allegations surfaced against him of "inappropriate behavior".</p>

SYDNEY, Australia - Academy award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush resigned as head of an Australian film industry body Saturday after allegations surfaced against him of "inappropriate behavior".