Oldfield Entertainment says Christie Whelan Browne was lewd on set of Rocky Horror

The theatre company being sued by Christie Whelan Browne for failing to provide a safe work environment during The Rocky Horror Show in 2014 says the actress was a ‘willing participant’ in sexual innuendo on the set.

The cast picture of the 2014 production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The theatre company behind the ill-fated Rocky Horror Show musical alleges its ­female star Christie Whelan Browne used sexual humour to shock cast members and was a “willing participant” in sexual innuendo on the set.

In new Federal Court documents, Oldfield Entertainment claims Ms Whelan Browne tried to break “female stereotypes”, used offensive language such as the C-word, and instigated physical contact with fellow star Craig McLachlan, including pulling down his pants.

The claims were contained in documents filed this week in response to a statement of claim lodged by Ms Whelan Browne last year.

She claims Oldfield Entertainment had failed to provide a safe work environment during the 2014 production of The Rocky Horror Show alongside actor Mr McLachlan.

Ms Whelan Browne was one of four women who previously accused Mr McLachlan in the Melbourne Magistrates court of assault and indecent assault and making unwanted advances. He was found not guilty.

Christie Whelan Browne is suing the producers of the show. Picture: AAP

Craig McLachlan was found not guilty of charges against him. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The accusations were aired again when McLachlan commenced, then discontinued, defamation proceedings against the ABC, Nine Newspapers and Ms Whelan Browne.

In rejecting Ms Whelan Browne’s claims outright and requesting damages, the theatre company made graphic allegations about the behaviour between Ms Whelan Browne and Mr McLachlan, who it said often played tricks on one another while performing on and off stage.

Ms Whelan Browne as Janet and Mr McLachlan as Frank-N-Furter during the show. Picture: NCA NewsWire.

The behaviour included Ms Whelan Browne “goosing” Mr McLachlan or “thrusting fingers up or pinching between the buttocks”, pulling his shorts down “when he least suspected it”, and discussing with him her genitalia, according to the statement.

They allege she gave him wedgies and flicked McLachlan’s groin area or backside with a towel.

The document alleges Ms Whelan Browne and Mr McLachlan engaged in mutual jokes that contained sexual innuendo and vulgarity throughout the 2014 season, and that she used sexual humour herself and liked to shock members of the cast by breaking traditional feminine stereotypes.

The theatre company argues that accusations Mr McLachlan engaged in unwanted sexual advances during the “Janet Bed Scene” cannot be characterised as conduct of a sexual nature because “it was done in the context of the work that both the applicant and Mr McLachlan had agreed to do under their contracts of employment and pursuant to the director’s guidance”.

Mr McLachlan and his partner Vanessa Scammell. Picture: Joel Carrett

In the statement lodged on Thursday afternoon, Ms Whelan Browne is also accused of calling her female co-stars ­derogatory names, including “talentless c..t” and “garbage c..t”, and using a variety of expletives with McLachlan to ­describe her own genitalia.

In her Statement of Claim filed with the court, Ms Whelan Browne says she on multiple occasions went to staff involved in the production to complain about Mr McLachlan’s alleged conduct and that she was unsupported.

According to Federal Court documents filed against Oldfield Entertainment, Ms Whelan Browne is asking the court to award her $1.5m in damages and a further $500,000 in ­aggravated damages.

Ms Whelan Browne is also seeking an order that Oldfield Entertainment, headed by producer John Frost, issue an apology, and that the court declare that the company contravened the Sex Discrimination Act.

Lawyers for Oldfield Entertainment asked the court to dismiss the statement of claim in its entirety and are seeking costs.

They said the respondent denied the applicant was “entitled to the relief claimed or any relief at all” and there was no proper basis to claim aggravated damages.

Ms Whelan Browne is seeking $2m in damages.

Her lawyers say that Oldfield Entertainment had a duty to provide her with a safe workplace and should have taken reasonable steps to prevent its employees from engaging in unlawful conduct that contravenes the Sex Discrimination Act, including sexual harassment and victimisation.

In its defence document, the theatre company rejects the assertion that “a reasonable observer would anticipate the allegations of sexualised comments … would cause offence, humiliation or intimidation to the applicant”.

It says the “nature of the production including the costumes, characters, dialogue and actions was highly sexualised” and the acting methods required cast members to “get into character”, and this meant that “sexualised conduct and conversation occurred offstage”.

The theatre company noted Ms Whelan Brown was an experienced actor who ­accepted the role of Janet and was the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance Representative and made no complaint at the time, to either Mr McLachlan or the company.

The theatre company also submitted that there was a deterioration between Ms Whelan Browne and some of the cast of the 2014 show during the Melbourne tour, due in large part to her absence from a significant part of the Melbourne dates, “resulting in there being less camaraderie and relationships were necessarily more distanced”.

Ms Whelan Browne, Tim Maddren and Mr McLachlan on stage during the show’s run. Picture: Tara Croser

The document stated the reason was also because Ms Whelan Brown had made “critical remarks about the understudies who undertook the role of Janet when she was absent due to her back injury” and that she made “critical remarks about another male actor’s performance” including that he was not doing his job very well.

The statement also alleged Ms Whelan Browne had a “feud” over a changing room with a cast member, and used derogatory language to ­describe that cast member, ­including the words “garbage c..t” and “garbage breath”.

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