Actress Faye Dunaway is being sued by her former gay assistant for allegedly calling him “a little homosexual boy”.
Michael Rocha served as Dunaway’s assistant during her brief time working on the one-woman play Tea at Five earlier this year. In a lawsuit seen by Page Six, Rocha claimed that he was fired for complaining about the way Dunaway treated him.
Rocha said he started working for the production as Dunaway’s assistant on April 5 and was responsible for doing her shopping, helping her take medication, arranging her schedule and getting her to and from rehearsals.
In the lawsuit, Rocha claimed that Dunaway “regularly and relentlessly” subjected him to “demeaning tirades” and used his sexual orientation to “demean and humiliate him at work”.
He claimed that Dunaway referred to him and other employees as “little gay people” on May 2, and later that month referred to him as “a little homosexual boy”. Rocha claimed in the lawsuit that he has a recording of the latter incident.
The former assistant allegedly approached the play’s general manager and general counsel and complained about Dunaway’s treatment of him. He also said that he provided them with the recording. Two weeks later, he was told that Dunaway was no longer comfortable working with him and he was fired.
Last month, the production of Tea at Five fell into turmoil when Dunaway was fired for creating a “hostile” and “dangerous” environment backstage, the New York Post reported.
Dunaway was reportedly fired after a July 10 performance was cancelled moments before it was due to begin because she allegedly slapped and threw things at crew members who were trying to put on her wig.
In a statement released last month, producers of the play said they had “terminated their relationship” with Dunaway and that it would now go to London where the role would be recast.
Sources who spoke to the New York Post last month suggested that the play had been plagued with issues. They claimed that Dunaway was frequently late for rehearsals, refused to allow anyone look at her, and was unable to learn her lines. She also allegedly demanded that nobody wear white to rehearsals, claiming the color “distracts” her.
The one-woman play Tea at Five follows the real-life story of acclaimed Hollywood actress Katharine Hepburn after she was injured in a car accident in 1983.