The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is being sued for libel by a stuntwoman who alleges that he groped her on a film set.
The news of the libel suit came on the same day that Schwarzenegger announced he had decided not to carry out a promised investigation into the groping allegations made by 15 women in the final days of the gubernatorial election in October.
Rhonda Miller (53) an LA-based stuntwoman, had claimed the actor had lifted up her shirt, taken a photograph of her breasts and groped her when the two were working on Terminator 2 in 1991. She claimed she was groped again on the set of True Lies in 1994.
Her claim, made in the presence of a civil rights lawyer, Gloria Allred, was one of many made in the final days of the campaign.
Shortly after the allegations were made to the media, reporters received an e-mail from the Schwarzenegger campaign. The e-mail directed the media to a criminal court website and suggested they tap in the name Rhonda Miller. The website indicated a Rhonda Miller had a criminal record for offences which included prostitution, forgery and drug dealing.
”We have to believe that, as a lawyer, Gloria would have checked the facts and background of the individual she presented at a news conference today,” the e-mail said.
However, the Rhonda Miller with the record was a different person. The stuntwoman has no criminal record, her legal team said yesterday. Some news organisations reported that the woman making the claims had a criminal record.
”Since this happened, I haven’t been able to get a job in the entertainment industry, despite my best efforts,” Miller told a press conference. She has been a stuntwoman for some 13 years.
The governor’s legal team dismissed the libel action as ”without merit”. Libel is harder to prove in the US than in the UK because even if the information is clearly false, malice or negligence must be proved.
The governor yesterday announced he had decided not to hire a private investigator to investigate the groping allegations as he had said he would.
In the closing days of the campaign, he had said he would have the claims examined, and after his election said he would hire an investigator to look into the allegations.
The state attorney general, Bill Lockyer, had briefly suggested that a phone line be set up for women to call with claims. A spokesperson said there would be no such inquiry, as ”the time has come to move on”. – Guardian Unlimited Â