Actor Kevin Sorbo says the late fashion icon Gianni Versace sexually harassed him early in his career while asserting that a man should “do the dog, and the cat, and the boy, and the girl.”
The former star of “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” appeared on comedian Adam Carolla’s podcast this week to promote his new movie, “Let Their Be Light,” when the conversation shifted to sexual assault in the entertainment industry.
Mr. Sorbo, a devout Christian, then said he would share a story from 1984 while he was in his mid-20s modeling in Milan, Italy. Mr. Sorbo said he was invited to a series of parties with stars such as Luciano Pavarotti and Richard Gere when he was eventually given a one-on-one dinner with Versace.
“So we’re sitting there in this little restaurant in San Babila. I’m in the championship game … ’You’ll be famous everywhere. I’ll make commercials.’ All the sudden his hand goes up my leg and I said, ’Dude, you know I’m straight.’ He goes, ’This is why I like you. You’re not a girly man. You are a man’s man.’ And I said, ’Well, there’s just no way it’s going to happen.’ And he said, ’In life, you must f- everything. You must do the dog, and the cat, and the boy, and the girl.”
The 6-foot, 3-inch actor said that a rejection of the sexual advance was countered with the claim that a “bridge” must be built between their lifestyles.
“The bridge was never built, and I never got the campaign,” Mr. Sorbo said. “I got four free dinners.”
Mr. Versace was shot and killed at his Miami home in 1997.
“I knew the game, just like I know the game of Hollywood,” Mr. Sorbo told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday after the broadcast. “Casting couches have always been around. I don’t play that game, nor do I care to.”
“Let There Be Light,” a religious film that Mr. Sorbo directed, opens in U.S. theaters on Friday.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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