Broadway’s Second Stage Theater Responds to Jesse Williams Socks Leakers
Currently the home of Williams’ “Take Me Out” play, the theater said it was “shocked” that an audience broke its sealed phone policy and shared the eye-opening footage on social media.
“Taking nude photos of someone without their consent is highly objectionable and can have serious legal consequences,” the theater said in a statement shared on Instagram on Tuesday. “Posting this on the Internet is a gross and unacceptable breach of trust between the actor and the forged audience in the theater community.”
The theater is also asking that no one else share the viral shots.
The Actors Equity Association also issued a statement, outwardly calling the recording “sexual harassment and a horrific breach of consent.”
“As actors, we routinely agree to be vulnerable on stage to tell difficult and challenging stories,” said association president Kate Schindle. Agree to share what it feels like to sneak a recording device into the theater. Whoever did this knew not only that they were filming the actors without their consent, but also that they were clearly in violation of the theater’s prohibition on recording and distribution.
“At every performance, there is a mutual understanding between the audience and the cast that we are sharing experiences limited to this time and place; That trust makes it possible for us to be exposed emotionally and physically,” she continued.
But the damage may already be done. As The Post reported on Monday, fans had a field day with the sight of Williams full-fronted on Twitter.
The ideas were probably first posted by the NSFW site GayBlog.ca.
The post has reached out to a representative for Williams for comment.
However, Williams, 40, didn’t seem concerned about nudity in general on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” on Monday night.
“It’s a body — once you look at it, you realize that whatever it is, it’s a body,” Williams said with co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson, 46. “I just don’t have to make it such a big deal.”
When Cohen questioned whether it helped when an actor could “feel good” about his body before everyone stopped on stage, Jesse replied with a smile: “I’d think so — I wouldn’t, So I do not know.”
