Gary Oldman's Son Defends His Father Against Abuse Allegations

Gary Oldman's son, Gulliver Oldman, has penned an open letter defending the Darkest Hour Oscar winner against claims of domestic abuse.

The letter, Deadline reports, was posted on an Oldman fan account. Its authenticity was verified by Focus Features.

In the letter, Gulliver praises his father's parenting and states that he stopped speaking to his own mother seven years ago, when he was 13.

"It has been troubling and painful to see these false allegations against my father being written about again, especially after this was all settled years ago. There is good reason that these specific articles and accusations subsided years ago."

He adds:

"I was there at the time of 'the incident,' so I'd like to make this radiantly clear: It didn't happen. Anyone who says it did is lying."

Not everyone watching the Oscars was happy to see Gary Oldman and Kobe Bryant take home a gold statue.

Oldman was awarded Best Actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hours, while NBA star Bryant won an award for Best Animated Short for Dear Basketball, the film that was based on his 2015 poem of the same name. However, for some fans of the awards show, the accusations against both men meant these victories were not ones to celebrate.

Bryant was accused of sexual assault in 2003. The case was ultimately dropped when the accuser refused to testify; later, Bryant issued an apology to the accuser, stating while he believed their encounter to be consensual, he understood that she did not. Oldman was accused of domestic abuse by his now ex-wife Donya Fiorentino in 2001. He has vehemently denied the allegations. A representative for Oldman states he was cleared of the domestic violence matter in 2001.

Fiorentino, however, stands by her accusations — and believes that Hollywood is hypocritical for awarding both her former husband and Bryant in the wake of #MeToo. Fiorentino told TMZ:

"Congratulations, Gary and congratulations to the Academy for awarding not one but two abusers with Oscars. I thought we had evolved. What happened to the #MeToo movement?"

Regarding Fiorentino's claims, Oldman spokesperson Douglas Urbanski offered this statement:

"Referring to the painful lie about 'spousal abuse', regarding recent recirculated old rumours, and an apparent coordinated smear campaign, there are those with suspect motives who circulate this story hinting that there is some truth to it. Anyone who circulates this story is doing so with complete rejection of the facts, malice, and is doing so with defamatory intentions. The #TimesUp and #MeToo movements — good, honest, and critical movements — aimed at addressing Hollywood predators who have abused women have also unfortunately given a platform to some to misuse the importance, validity, and urgency of the movement. Those haters seem hellbent on convincing the public that Gary Oldman belongs in the rogues gallery of true abuser predators. The misuse of these important movements by some denigrate and harm the many victim women whom have genuinely suffered. Gary Oldman passionately and strongly supports the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements and the long awaited correction of these abuses."

The #MeToo movement, in which women and men have come forward about sexual misconduct in the workplace and beyond, has given way to the Time's Up initiative. Founded by 300 Hollywood women, the organisation pledges to fight for laws that will improve gender equality across all industries. It has also raised millions of dollars for a legal defence fund so that financially underprivileged women can fight back in court against sexual harassment.

In a time when so much is being done to fight back against sexual misconduct and abuse, it's not surprising that some are asking what it means for Hollywood to award those with serious accusations against them.

Refinery29 has reached out to reps for Bryant and Fiorentino and will update this post should we hear back.

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