SAG-AFTRA’s disciplinary committee has found Kip Pardue guilty of sexual misconduct in a sexual harassment complaint filed last year by actress Sarah Scott. According to Deadline, he was charged with “serious misconduct” in the case where he had allegedly masturbated in front of Scott while working on Mogulettes, an indie TV project.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Scott had reported the incident to the Screen Actors Guild few days after Pardue had allegedly forced her to touch his genitals. This allegedly occurred during an intimate scene in the pilot, and Pardue also allegedly masturbated in the dressing room in front of Scott. Scott claimed she was not interested in the money, causing her to not press charges. As the film industry does not officially have a form of HR, Scott felt SAG was her best bet.
It took a year for SAG to finally make a decision concerning the incident. On March 20, the union pronounced Pardue “guilty of serious misconduct in violation” of SAG’s constitution. The SAG committee informed Pardue that he would be fined $6,000, but that it would be lowered to $3,000 providing that Pardue “took an online workplace sexual harassment training module,” according to LA Times. While this might seem quite minimal, Pardue also might face more serious consequences if he were, within a five-year span, to be found guilty of misconduct.
Regarding Scott’s feelings towards how SAG handled the case, she seemed a bit unsure. “Overall, I’m OK with it, but it’s a weird feeling. I don’t know if I’m supposed to feel good about the punishment or not,” she told the LA Times. “I would have liked to have seen a couple of years’ suspension, but this is a step in the right direction. What was the most important for me was that others who come forward in the future know that the union is willing to take these complaints seriously and create a space where they can be heard.”
Kip Pardue currently plays a lead role in Hulu’s Marvel series Runaways. It is unclear if his role in the series or his future career will be affected by this case.