Death threats were so terrifying to the lady who accused actor Craig McLachlan of inappropriately touching her while on set together that she slept with a knife beneath her bed.
Christie Whelan Browne claimed in 2018 that McLachlan sexually attacked her when they were performing a scene in bed during a 2014 stage production of The Rocky Horror Show.
McLachlan filed a defamation action and rejected the charges before deciding to abandon the case ahead of 11 women’s testimonies.
McLachlan will cover all legal fees, which are expected to total over $2 million.
While the conclusion was hailed as a victory for Ms Whelan Browne, who received champagne and flowers from friends after McLachlan dropped the case, she highlighted the cost of the public feud in an interview with Stellar.
‘This was the first time I’d ever gotten death threats… When someone threatens to submerge my head till I cease breathing… Those threats struck you as real as if they had been spoken directly to your face. If my spouse was away, I slept with a knife by my bed,’ she explained.
The 39-year-old stage and screen actress was so worried that the threats would be carried out that she uprooted her life and relocated.
Despite her apprehension, Ms Whelan Browne was prepared to defend herself throughout the trial, and she was disappointed when it came to a close so quickly.
There are no winners, she added, but she hopes that the case’s high exposure would prompt others to think about the issues women confront.
‘There’s a lot of humiliation and anxiety and sleepless nights. None of those are enticing reasons to [speak out]. You should always come from the angle of, why would someone do this if it’s not the truth?’ she said.
‘Women for a long time have smiled and put up with things they didn’t want to, and now they’re saying we don’t want to anymore. If that’s hard to grasp, give me a call and I’ll talk you through it.’
McLachlan was found not guilty of assault and indecent assault during a 2020 hearing at Melbourne Magistrates Court.
But Magistrate Belinda Wallington acknowledged changes in consent laws may have resulted in a different outcome if the alleged assaults were more recent.
At the conclusion of the trial, she hailed the four complainants as “brave and honest witnesses.”
Ms. Whelan Browne was quietly dealing with infertility concerns while defending her reputation during a four-year period.
She and her husband conceived after multiple IVF attempts, and she thanks her partner’s support for helping her get through the ordeal.
On the same day that the first of 11 women was set to testify against him, McLachlan shocked the world by announcing that he would be withdrawing all legal proceedings.
‘The stress this matter has placed on me and, more significantly, my family, has been simply overwhelming,’ he said.
I can’t keep putting my family through this, and my mental health can’t take it anymore.’
After the actor’s attorney, Kieran Smark SC, sought for permission to end the proceedings, Acting Justice Carolyn Simpson discharged the jury.
The award-winning actor admitted to bringing sexual jokes and pranks to The Rocky Horror Show, including deep-throating bananas and masturbating crew members’ arms, in his testimony.
He, on the other hand, rejected the charges in the magazines, accusing Whelan Browne and two other women of approaching the media for fame or money.