Two actresses who worked for years with Michael Weatherly on the set of the hit drama NCIS have spoken out in support of their former costar in the days after news broke that Weatherly was in the middle of a scandal from the set of his CBS show, Bull.
Last week, the news broke that CBS had paid actress Eliza Dushku $9.5 million after she accused Weatherly of harassment and being inappropriate. Pauley Perrette, who played Abby Sciuto alongside Weatherly’s Anthony DiNozzo on NCIS, tweeted, “This man…I love, respect, trust, and I KNOW. TWO decades of friendship and respect. The best. I love you @M_Weatherly Always and forever,” along with a photo of the pair smiling together.
Along with Perrette, actress Sasha Alexander who played Special Agent Caitlin Todd on the police procedural, also voiced her support for her former costar. “I have been in trenches w/ my friend @M_Weatherly. Always laughs, true friend & [a heart] as big as they come,” she wrote on Saturday, hours after Perrette’s message, alongside a photo of the pair.
As previously reported, the New York Times reported on Thursday, December 13 that actress Eliza Dushku was given more than $9 million after she came forward with claims that Weatherly made comments about “rape” and “threesomes” on set. Dushky claims that after she came forward with her issues with his behavior, she was released from the show even though her character was supposed to be added as a series regular. As a result, Dushku signed a confidential settlement, granting her $9.5 million — approximately the same amount she would have made as a Bull cast member for four seasons, the Times reported.
Weatherly spoke to the Times saying he regretted how his comments made his costar feel. “During the course of taping our show, I made some jokes mocking some lines in the script,” Weatherly said in the statement to the publication.“When Eliza told me that she wasn’t comfortable with my language and attempt at humor, I was mortified to have offended her and immediately apologized. After reflecting on this further, I better understand that what I said was both not funny and not appropriate and I am sorry and regret the pain this caused Eliza.”