Erich Bergen Defends Himself After 'Bogus Claims' Against Him Have Led to Death Threats

Erich Bergen is speaking out to clear his name after “bogus claims” were made against him in a lawsuit, which he says have led to “several anonymous death threats.”

The 35-year-old actor is best known for playing Blake Moran in the CBS series Madam Secretary and for starring in the Jersey Boys movie. During the pandemic, he teamed up with Rosie O’Donnell to bring back her talk show as a virtual fundraiser for the Actors Fund and he parlayed that into a successful new career as a virtual event producer.

Erich is being sued by MZA Events, the company who put on the virtual AIDS Walk: Live at Home telecast. The company says that Erich was hired to film a video of Elton John and husband David Furnish accepting a lifetime achievement award. They claim the actor held the video “hostage” in the days leading up to the event, according to Page Six.

Now, Erich is firing back at the claims made against him.

Click inside to read his statement…

“If you know anything about me, you know that I try to find the humor in almost everything. I remember being wheeled in to the operating room for testicular cancer surgery and thinking to myself how literal the phrase ‘life’s a ball’ was about to become. But for once, I’m not laughing,” Erich began his statement on Twitter.

He continued, “Over the past months, I’ve been the subject of a pathetic attempt to publicly humiliate me by an individual I did some work for in the past. While he is, no doubt, a hero for his work in the LGBTQIA+ community, that does not take away from the abuse and bullying that I, and others, have been subject to while under his employment and afterwards.”

“These bogus claims are nothing more than an attempt to cover up his own unprofessional behavior and harassment. In fact, when he submitted evidence to the court for the claims in his lawsuit, he submitted both falsified and expired documents,” Erich wrote. “I was never paid, nor was I ever offered a contract to work on the event in question, and any suggestion of such is not only a lie, but an easily provable lie. I found myself in a toxic situation with this person, and when I stood up for myself and removed myself from the situation, he filed a bogus lawsuit against me to nurse his wounded ego.”

Erich continued, “I’ve remained quiet on this out of respect for the court and legal process, as well as my naive hope this would just go away with the next news cycle, but after several anonymous death threats and my name continuing to be dragged through the mud, both my work and personal life have suffered and I refuse to let it go on any longer. I look forward to clearing my name in court very soon.”

Erich also announced a donation to two causes.

“Additionally, because I was unable to work on the event in question due to the harassment of the person in charge of it, I’m donating $20,000 to @GMHC and $20,000 to @TrevorProject. Two incredible organizations that have saved the lives of so many in LGBTQIA+ community,” he concluded.