Lost Star Harold Perrineau Breaks Silence After His Daughter Accuses Girls Writer of Rape
Harold Perrineau is breaking his silence weeks after his daughter, Aurora, accused a Girls writer of allegedly raping her.
On Friday morning, Harold, who starred as Michael Dawson on ABC drama Lost from 2004-10, took to Twitter to address the sexual assault allegation Aurora made last month against Murray Miller, who has denied raping her.
“So, it’s finally time for me to speak. I’ve been silent for a few weeks now. Completely silent. I mean what do you say when you are watching your wife not eat or sleep? What do you say when you realized you couldn’t protect your child? What do you say when your heart is just….broken? Silence,” Harold began.
“In that silence, I noticed something. Someone — Aurora. I noticed her strength and bravery. I noticed her stand up. Stand up and say no more! No more terror, or fear, no more nightmares, no more hiding. And I realized, I’m not watching some victim here, I’m in the presence of a warrior. A real life crime fighter who is unafraid to look boldly at some coward who hoped to abuse her and say, no,” he continued.
“I realized I am witnessing thousands of heroes stand up everyday and say no more. And I finally had my #metoo moment. If you are willing to stand up, #metoo. If you are willing to fight, #metoo. If you are willing to say no more to this way of life where people think they can abuse you and get away with it, then I say, hells yes, #metoo,” Harold wrote. “So to @taranaburke, @terrycrews, @rosemcgowan, @halesbells, @_jessicabarth_, @zinziclemmons, @itsgabrielleu, @asiaargento @lupita_nyongo and to every other person that is fighting back, I say thank you for all of your support, and I stand with you. I fight beside you.”
He concluded: “Lastly, to all of you out there that think you can get away with your abuse, to you and all of your friends with ‘inside information’ or outside influence, I say, let’s let the police do their job. But you should know this…YOU HAVE WITH THE WRONG FAMILY!!! WE STAND UP!!!”
— Harold Perrineau (@HaroldPerrineau) December 8, 2017
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Aurora, 23, filed a complaint in November about the alleged attack with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, according to The Wrap, which first reported the news. She claimed that she was 17 when she met Miller at L.A.’s Standard Hotel with friends. Admitting she “consumed some alcoholic beverages,” she alleged Miller, then 33, asked them for a ride home, where they all went inside, reluctantly on her part, after arriving.
In her statement for a polygraph test taken in September, she claimed she awoke naked in his bed, where he was allegedly “having sexual intercourse with me,” against her consent.
Miller’s attorney, Matthew Walerstein, told The Wrap his client “categorically and vehemently denies Ms. Perrineau’s outrageous claims,” adding that his legal team had “gathered overwhelming evidence directly contradicting these false and offensive claims” and that she “sought substantial monetary damages” from Miller before going to police.
On Thursday, Miller’s lawyers retracted the part of their previous statement, in which they claimed Aurora demanded money from him.
“In a previous statement to media, we stated that Ms. Perrineau sought substantial monetary damages from our client Murray Miller. Neither Ms. Perrineau nor her attorneys have ever made a demand for money,” Murray Miller’s attorneys, Donald Walerstein and Matthew Walerstein, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “Our previous above statement was incorrect and the result of a good-faith misunderstanding.”