Faye Dunaway Sued for Calling Gay Assistant “Little Homosexual Boy”

Faye Dunaway speaks at the “Cinema for Peace Gala” in Berlin, February 2019

As we reported, last month, Faye Dunaway was fired from Tea at Five, a one-woman show about Katharine Hepburn, for creating a “hostile” and “dangerous” environment backstage.

Now the man who was her assistant on the show is suing her, saying she terrorized him and repeatedly referred to him as a

“little homosexual boy.”

According to Courthouse News, Michael Rocha, who is openly gay and who worked for Dunaway for two months before she was fired in July, alleges in his suit that she berated him for the duration of their working relationship, continually commenting on his sexuality,

Rocha was paid $1,500 a week for handling Dunaway’s Tea at Five schedule and travel arrangements, and reminding her to take her meds. (Um, maybe she skipped it a few times.)

According to Advocate, he is seeking punitive damages based on the discrimination he says he faced.

The harassment began early, according to the suit. Within weeks of starting work for the Mommie Dearest star, Rocha texted the general counsel for the show to file a complaint that Dunaway had referred to him and several others involved with the production as “little gay people.”

Later that month, he recorded her calling him a
“little homosexual boy”
as he tried to coax her to rehearsal.

Rocha wrote in an email to Tea at Five’s general manager, Joseph Guglielmo,

“As I told you on Friday, she still thinks I’m her 24/7 servant and went off on me because I was not there yesterday afternoon or this morning doing her dishes. I worked for her 14 days straight now, and still doing my best to get her to rehearsals on time.”

By late July, Tea at Five producers fired Dunaway because she allegedly

“slapped and threw things at crew members who were trying to put on her wig.”

Dunaway’s lawyer did not respond to a Courthouse News request for comment.

This is nothing new. This behavior has been going on for DECADES. Bette Davis famously spoke her name in the 80s when asked who would she NOT want to work with again.