Judy Garland's ex-husband made a horrifying claim about his wife being sexually molested on the set of her iconic film The Wizard of Oz. The posthumously memoir of Garland's third husband Sid Luft, who died in 2005, alleges that the actors who played the munchkins in the 1939 movie took advantage of the 16-year-old actress.
"They would make Judy's life miserable on set by putting their hands under her dress," reads an excerpt from Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland (out March 1), per Marie Claire. "The men were 40 or more years old. They thought they could get away with anything because they were so small."(It's important to note that the veracity of this allegation is nearly impossible to prove, given that Luft, Garland, and nearly everyone involved with the film, including almost all of the accused actors, has died.)
Needless to say, Luft's account is horrifying. The thought of a vulnerable teenage girl being molested by her male coworkers on the set of one of her first big studio movies is just sickening.
The book — an unfinished version of which was discovered last year and completed using previous interviews with Luft — details his relationship with Garland, who struggled with drug abuse and depression, and attempted suicide at least twice before she died of a prescription drug overdose at age 47 in 1969. Amazon describes Judy and I as Luft's "testament to the love of his life."
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