By: Bob DiLeo
DISCLAIMER- this is a fictional story with made up characters
On the set of the upcoming sequel to last year’s hit musical, The Greatest Showman, one of the dance choreographers is accusing the director of the film, Ryan Rosario, of sexual assault. The woman’s name is Kayla VanDerveer and she has done work for numerous other musicals, such as La La Land and HairSpray. According to Vanderveer, she claims that while on break, Rosario tried to force her to perform sexual acts on him in her dressing room. She went on to say that if she refused, Rosario said he would get her job taken away. One of the dancers, Jenna Roberts, instantly went to VanDerveer’s defense and stated, “We are disgusted to hear about this unsettling news revolving around our workplace. This could have happened to any other of the dancers. This is something that, us as women, should not have to worry about while doing our jobs.”
Here is Kayla Vanderveer choreographing in the studio while the film was still in the Pre-Production phase.
Because they were only three weeks into filming, Warner Bros Studious, who is distributing the film, has decided to fire Rosario immediately. With the decision to fire Rosario, the studio has also decided to put a halt on the production of this film until they decide who to hire next as director. It is still unclear if the movie is still intended to be released by the initial release date of Fall of 2019, or if it will be postponed. The president of Warner Bros, Justin Newton, has stated, “With the increase of women speaking out with their stories about sexual misconduct, we fully support her bravery for coming out during this difficult time. That is why we have decided to immediately terminate Rosario because we want to show that we do not encourage that type of behavior towards anyone in our workplace.”
Since she has come out with these accusations, Vanderveer has become a spokesperson within the #MeToo movement and has been very active for Women’s rights as of lately. VanDerveer decided to start a march that took place outside of the set of the film. All of her fellow dancers participated with her during this march, which was being covered through many news outlets. She has gone on record saying, “When he tried to force me to do unwanted acts with him, he made me feel the way that many other women in this country are forced to feel. I felt like nothing. He threatened me with me with my job and showed no respect towards me. Actions like this have to be stopped in this industry and in this country as a whole.”
Kayla VanDerveer(left) and Jenna Roberts(right) are seen supporting the #MeToo movement before their big march.
This is far from the end for Vanderveer. Even though she continues on bringing awareness to sexual misconduct on films, she is still looking forward for the filming of movie to resume. She said after the march, “I have complete faith in the studio in choosing a suitable replacement where I will be able to feel safe on the set again and continue on doing what I have always loved doing.”
Bobby's Blog 