Former Saturday Night Live star Molly Shannon says that she was sexually harassed by Gary Coleman earlier in her career.
While being a guest on The Howard Stern Show, Shannon said she was harassed by Coleman after she had signed with Coleman’s manager and was invited to Coleman’s penthouse hotel room. According to Variety via People, the incident started once she sat down on Coleman’s bed.
“I think he was like, ‘Sit down [on the bed].’ It was very sweet,” she said, describing the account she also wrote about in her upcoming memoir Hello, Molly!. “And then he’s, like, tickling me a little. This and that.”
The SNL alum said she told Coleman she was a virgin and tried “to be polite” about turning Coleman down. But this just made Coleman more aggressive. In Shannon’s words, “He was relentless.”
“Then, he was like trying to kiss me and get on top and I was like, ‘No, Gary. Stop.’ So, I push him off,” she said.
“Then, I would get off the bed. Then, he would bounce on the bed. Jump, jump, jump. And wrap himself around me. Then, I would fling him off. And then he got on top of me. I guess because of his size I didn’t feel physically threatened. But … it was going on and on. Repeating. I would throw him off, he would get back on. And then finally, I throw him off. I was really getting out of breath because it was athletic and aerobic.”
“He grabs me onto my leg and I was like [trying to] kick him off,” said Shannon. “And then, I go lock myself in the bathroom and then he sticks his hands under the door. And he’s like, ‘I can see you.'”
Shannon said she “sprinted out” of the room and told his manager to keep better track of his client. But she now wishes she had taken a stand.
“I wish I could have stood up for myself more,” she said.
