Kevin Connolly has been accused of sexually assaulting a costume designer who he worked with in 2005 on the movie The Gardener of Eden.
Gracie Cox was an assistant costume designer on the movie, which was Kevin‘s directorial debut. She says that he sexually assaulted her in a back room at the film’s wrap party and before that happened, she says he flirted with her on set.
“I was around the set every day. Kevin was friendly and mildly flirtatious but I just laughed it off and didn’t take it too seriously,” Gracie told The Daily Beast. “I wasn’t interested but he was the director, so I was cordial. There was nothing that made me fearful though, it just made me a little uncomfortable, because he was my boss. So not acknowledging the smiles or comments didn’t feel like an option.”
“I was pretty surprised by all of it. He was dating Nicky Hilton and I’m this sort of shy woman who wears vintage clothes,” she said. “I don’t know.”
Gracie then opened up about what happened at the wrap party.
“We were at the party and I don’t think I’d been there for more than an hour or so when Kevin [Connolly] approached me and asked if I’d go with him for a smoke,” Gracie said, adding that she was a bit tipsy at the time. “I didn’t smoke but didn’t want to seem rude. This was the first social setting I’d been in with him, other than being on set. He led me down a hall to what I guess was the VIP lounge area. As soon as we were alone in that area, he started to kiss me. I didn’t know how to respond—but before I could even think about what to do about it, he pulled me into one of these little side [booths], and pulled down my pants, and turned me around, and within no time was inside of me. I was just in shock.”
“There was not really a chance in my mind to object or resist. It just happened really fast. I froze and was in shock. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before in any way, shape or form. I was completely caught off-guard,” Gracie said. She says that Kevin didn’t wear a condom. After he came, she says, “He took a pillow off of a couch, threw it at me, and told me to ‘clean myself up.’ He then told me that he was going to leave and to wait a few minutes, because he didn’t want anyone to see us together.”
The Daily Beast spoke with several people who backed up Gracie‘s story. Amy Wescott, who was the film’s costume designer, saw her come out of the back room looking disheveled and confronted Kevin in the middle of the party, which several witnesses confirmed.
Click inside to read what Kevin Connolly’s lawyer said in a statement… More Here! »
