Esai's an Asshole

I was watching Jericho last night in bed, just because of the Nuts! Thing where fans were able to save the show I wanted to see what was so beloved and it is all sorts of exciting, but anyway I was watching it last night when I recognized one of the official army guys as Esai Morales, which gave me pause because I remembered reading about him being accused of rape and I wasn’t exactly sure that had been resolved.

According to the complaint, Morales assaulted her "on or about May 19, 2006, whereby Defendant forcibly...had sex with Plaintiff over her repeated verbal protests and attempts to escape."

Mazzocchi alleges that Morales physically assaulted her in a separate incident in November, 2006, "[k]icking, punching and chasing Plaintiff which resulted in Plaintiff calling 911."

Mazzocchi further charges Morales with intentionally infecting her with herpes, according to court papers obtained by CelebTV.com. In addition to the explosive claims of sexual and physical violence, Mazzocchi claims the "NYPD Blue" actor owes her $25,000.

Here’s Esai’s response from his MySpace page
From July 23rd (so it’s not like these charges came out of the blue when they were deep into filming-I’m not even sure the series had been revived at that point)

July 23, 2007

To My Fans,

As you may have already heard, I have been put in a very frustrating situation by some hurtful accusations that were leveled against me in a recent lawsuit. But, because of the nature of the litigious society we live in, my very competent legal counsel is advising me not to comment at this time.

Yet, I need to assure you personally that the charges that have been leveled against me are absolutely false and without merit and I am prepared to vigorously defend myself and my reputation.

You know me. You've known me for nearly three decades. And you know in your hearts that these claims are baseless. This is not the way I live my life and I am incapable of committing these kinds of acts.

I am proud of my humanity, my activism and my respect for fellow human beings. I will continue to be optimistic and I will not let a personal attack deter me from the bigger picture.

I am grateful and humbled by your prayers, well wishes and expressions of trust and support at this time and look forward to the day when the truth will prevail.

Peace,

Esai Morales

From a transcript of a press conference given by his accusing victim, Elizabeth
Given last month (!)

In January 2006, Esai Morales and I began dating. Shortly afterwards, our relationship evolved into a business relationship and I became his talent manager as well as his girlfriend. In March of 2006, I moved into his Los Angeles home, where we lived together as boyfriend and girlfriend for over one year. The initial months of our relationship were the happiest times of my life. I was deeply in love with Esai, and he told me that he felt the same way.


In April of 2006, everything changed. Esai began to physically and verbally abuse me. His physical abuse often caused bruising and bleeding. His most vicious attack occurred on May 19, 2006 when, despite my objections and attempts to escape, Esai Morales held me down and forcibly raped me.


Throughout the rape, he screamed that I "wanted it" and he called me a whore.


After the rape, Esai Morales gave me gifts, and warned me that I should never speak out about the rape. He said he did it because he was upset, and that deep down he loved me. Though it seems almost inconceivable to me as I stand here before you today, I believed him. I wanted so much to believe that the wonderful, gracious and caring person I had come to know was incapable of being such a monster.

Esai also gave me herpes, from which I will suffer pain and humiliation every day for the rest of my life. When I learned I had herpes in September 2006, I confronted him, and he told me that he had known since long before we began dating that he had the disease. He also said, "So what -- 30 million other people have it too."
….

Since I initiated my lawsuit against Esai Morales, I have been approached by a number of people who have told me that they too were sexually assaulted and/or violently raped by Esai Morales.


Two of these women have provided me with sworn declarations describing Esai Morales' conduct in detail. They are both prepared to assist me in my lawsuit and to speak to the press to shed light on what a monster Esai Morales actually is. One of these women in particular describes a scene when, as a college student, she went out on a date with Esai Morales. When she went to pick up him at his house at the beginning of the date, Esai Morales asked her to come in and then violently and viciously raped her. Just like he had done with me, he told her she "wanted it," and called her a "whore." Then, he threatened her and stalked her to keep her quiet.

I am coming forward today and holding this press conference for 4 main reasons:

First, I feel like I have an obligation to Esai Morales' prior victims who have bravely come forward to tell their nightmarish stories of rape and sexual assault….These women came forward despite fears for their safety, fears based on the fact that Esai Morales had previously stalked and threatened them -- as he did to me. I have an obligation to these brave women to honor their courage and fearlessness in coming forward. It is for these prior victims -- who have recently come forward and are finally getting a chance to raise their voices -- that I am speaking out today.

Second, I feel like I have an obligation to Esai Morales' prior victims who have not yet come forward. I understand how these women feel. I was in their shoes: Esai Morales had abused, raped, and threatened me too. I too feared for my life based on his threats. But I have found strength in the other brave women victimized by Esai Morales who have come forward and signed declarations detailing his prior sexual abuse. I feel empowered to carry on and fight the good fight. Because these brave women empowered me, I want to share this sense of empowerment with other women who are currently out there who are perhaps lonely, perhaps scared, but who all share the common trauma of having been sexually abused by Esai Morales
Third, I feel like I have an obligation to all of the innocent women out there who may one day be victimized by Esai Morales. Hopefully, by coming forward together with Esai Morales' prior victims, we can prevent him from raping any more innocent women.
Finally, I feel like I have an obligation to myself. As a result of Esai Morales' rape and subsequent threats of physical harm against me if I came forward, I have been forced to move from my home and live like a fugitive. I have been living in fear and in hiding for too long. I have chosen to retake control of my life. It is my hope that by coming forward and publicizing my story, Esai Morales will be less likely to carry through with his threats to physically harm me.

And it kind of shocked me and took me aback that there wouldn’t be some kind of shunning or at least temporary (unofficial) blacklisting of someone accused of such a reprehensible crime or at least not featuring him prominently in a network show. I know to suggest some sort of morality code in Hollywood is the most ludicrous and naïve idea ever, and one that is doomed to failure, but for certain crimes that everyone recognizes as horrible can’t producers and casting agents just say “hey, until this is all resolved and the truth comes out in your case we won’t hire yo. We don’t want to be in the position where some blogger can accuse us of being insensitive to rape victims “ I mean Isaiah Washington was excoriated widely and that was just for using a slur. Esai Morales (allegedly) raped multiple women and there seems to be no outcry.
Of course this is all alleged and he said she said but still,... it makes me uncomfortable.

Jericho was not a city of refuge then and it shouldn’t be now.
Hopefully his character gets killed off relatively soon

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