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Photo: Anat Mosberg
Moshe Ivgy
Photo: Anat Mosberg

Well-known Israeli actor faces flurry of sexual harassment accusations

Six women came forward, saying Moshe Ivgy behaved inappropriately towards them; 'He's like a kind of octopus that sends its tentacles,' says one of the women; Ivgy denies all allegations.

Well-known Israeli actor Moshe Ivgy has been accused by six women of sexual harrassment this week.

 

 

"Its important to me that this gets out there," said G., a theater worker in her thirties who claims that ten years ago, Ivgy sexually harassed her.

 

"Men need to know that we are not going to take this anymore," she told Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday night. "Ivgy has to know that if he continues to work in theater, film and television, he can't continue behaving like this." 

 

Moshe Ivgy (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
Moshe Ivgy (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
 
 

Ivgy, one of the most admired and busy actors in Israel, is the latest name in a growing list of men in positions of power who are accused of sexually harassing women whom they met at their workplace.

 

The claims against Ivgy were an open secret within the theater and entertainment industry, but the affair got out due to a former employee of a Haifa theater who filed a warning before a lawsuit against the theater. The employee claimed that Ivgy sexually harassed her during their work together and that she reported this to the theater's management, but her complaint was not handled properly.

 

Ivgy denies accusations

"I am not bothered by it, I don't know where they find all these things, I'm mostly shocked," Ivgy said at his Zikhron Ya'akov home. "My conscience is clear, I don't remember these claims at all."

 

"I never hurt anyone, be they man or woman, this is just a libel," he added, repeating what he told Yedioth on Tuesday, before his name was released.

 

Moshe Ivgy (Photo: Tal Shachar)
Moshe Ivgy (Photo: Tal Shachar)
 

One of his close friends came to support and strengthen him. "This is just nonsense, that Ivgy would hurt a woman, does that seem reasonable to you? Look at him, he is totally at a loss for words. This story is not logical," he said. 

 

"Six women, all in a single day? Somebody says something, now she also remembers and another one also pops up. He is thinking who can be behind all this, but currently he prefers to keep silent. He is really wrecked. He understands that this story is going to last for a while and he is mostly angry towards the crazy shaming that is being done to him. Maybe somebody decided to take him out because of some political statements he made. This seems precontrived, doesn't it?"

 

'He did not let my hand go'

G. told Yedioth what happened about ten years ago. She was 26 years old, her first job in theater, and Ivgy was acting in a production she was working on.

 

"One day I got a phone call from the producer asking me to accompany Ivgy for some photoshoot that they were doing just for him. All of a sudden, he calls me to help him. He asked me to comb his hair. I found myself in a really strange situation where I am combing his hair. The photographer told me at some point, 'I see that Ivgy likes you.'

 

"When we got out of there and we wanted to go to the other side of the street, Ivgy took my hand and led me onto the road. We entered a taxi and he would not let my hand go. He held my hand and petted it. Five minutes of driving and he did not let my hand go. I said nothing, we got out of the taxi and he kept holding my hand. I was really uncomfortable.

 

"We arrived at the theater, he said, 'come with me to the rehearsal room,' I told him that I had to use the bathroom and I managed to free my hand from his grip. I felt really uncomfortable, it felt out of place.

 

"You want to succeed in the industry, Ivgy is a person who can help you," she added.

 

Moshe Ivgy (Photo: Dana Kopel)
Moshe Ivgy (Photo: Dana Kopel)

 

G. said that the harassment continued."I called him about work matters, he said, 'My birthday's tomorrow, want to come eat with me? Maybe I will call you later?'

 

"Or I'm sitting with my glasses on and he adjusts them, touches my nose, hugs me. He constantly tried, in small ways, all sorts of contact.

 

"It's like a kind of octopus that sends its tentacles and you are trying to be professional. This behavior was systematic, and I constantly dodged it. As long as this continued and he did not understand that I was just trying to be pleasant and professional, it became harassment. I found myself dodging him as much as possible, until he got the point and gave up."

 

Later on, G. said, she found out that she is not the only one. "A friend told me that he also harassed her. Afterwards I went on a date with a director that worked with him. He told me about his show that Ivgy was acting in, and immediately my face revealed my feelings. He asked me, 'what, he harassed you too?' I asked him, 'what do you mean?' Then he said, 'a good friend of mine worked on the set and he did not stop calling her. He harassed her nonstop, calling her obsessively, and I had to step in and tell him to leave her alone, not that it really helped.' Then I understood that it was not just me."

 

One of Ivgy's associates responded to G.'s claims, saying, "I know Moshe for many years, I have never been a witness of such things and to the claims that popped up. The fact that not a single complaint was filed against him with the police all these years means that this whole thing is nonsense. He is being targeted for nothing at all. It's really sad to see this."

 

The actor himself denies the accusations made against him. His attorney, Zion Amir, refused to respond.

 

Six accusers

Since the affair came to light, several other women who worked with Ivgy came forward. Some of them, it turns out, told colleagues about his behavior, but have refused and continue to refuse to file a complaint against him with the police.

 

For example, Y., an actress who acted alongside Ivgy in one of the theaters, told her colleagues about several cases that happened during their work together. "Ivgy tried to forcefully kiss me, he shoved his tongue into my mouth, but I pushed him off and he stopped."

 

Moshe Ivgy
Moshe Ivgy

 

Channel 10 revealed another testimony of an additional woman, S., who claimed that Ivgy harassed her about twenty years ago, when she was a teen reporter. "I came to interview him and at some point the interview got to be really uncomfortable. He asked me if I was a virgin, did I sleep with anyone yet, if I masturbated, all sorts of intimate things that were quite repulsive. After this he touched me in a manner that was unquestionably inappropriate, I was quite shocked."

 

S. was afraid, so she did not file a complaint with the police. The claims that surfaced over the past few days reminded her of the uncomfortable experience she had.

 

Attorney Liat Behar Cohen, who represents the Haifa theater employee, said: "My client considers the fact that her complaint to the Haifa theater's management was leaked very gravely, and is not willing to conduct a public trial against the actor. My client claims that she experienced sexual harassment by him during her work at the theater. Sadly, the theater did not handle her complaint as required by law. Due to the fact that the theater does not take responsibility, my client has no choice but to file a lawsuit at the labor court to protect her rights according to the law for the prevention of sexual harassment at work and according to the equal opportunities labor law."

 

Yoav Birenberg, Nevo Ziv, Raz Shechnik and Eitan Glickman contributed to this article.

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.04.16, 12:25
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