After coming out in telling her horrific experience with a Mexican director, Karla Souza has received a tremendous outpour of support from Hollywood stars. Her "How To Get Away With Murder" co-star, Viola Davis sent out a tweet backing her up and now Gina Rodriguez is showing solidarity with Souza.
"Let's support our sister Karla Souza and all those brave Mexican women that have raised their voice", the "Jane The Virgin" star wrote on Twitter with the Time's Up hashtag.
After Televisa cut ties with the alleged perpetrator, Gustavo Loza, who has gone on a press tour to defend himself, Ana De La Reguera stepped out to support Karla.
"Something that aggressors are experts in: convince, change the topic and victimize," she wrote.
In an interview on CNN en Español with Carmen Aristegui, Karla Souza recounted the horrible experience she had with a Mexican director during the production of a television series. "It's 2am and this person feels that need to knock on my hotel room door and tell me that he just thought of a scene, that he needs to talk to me, that because he's dead tired, that because he has been smoking all day," she said. "That he needs to talk to me to know what I think about a scene. This is at 2am. It's inappropriate, it's something that should've never happened."
The Mexican actress then added that during these visits to her room, he flirted with her, but when she rejected his advances, he would take it out on her the next day on set. "When I didn't open the door, the next day during film he would make me pay for it," Souza said. "He decided not to film my scene. He started to humiliate me in front of everyone. This was a psychological control. At the same time he was charming when I did open the door."
Souza said that she ended up accepting his advances after about a month after "his complete abuse of power." "In a way, I caved, to let him kiss me, to touch me in ways that I didn't want him to touch me," she said. "In one instance he was violent and yes, he raped me. It's really hard to say that." And Karla didn't know it was rape at first, but after talking things out she understood that he had abused his power.
Karla Souza added that the director thought they were in a relationship until she finally put a stop to things, but when she did, he fired her from the series. Because nobody knew what had happened between then, top executives ask that her character be reinstated as it was a fan favorite, and he continued to further humiliate her in front of everyone.
At no moment during the interview with Karla Souza reveal the name of the culprit, but Televisa sent out a statement where they say they had cut ties with Gustavo Loza, a producer not directly employed by the network, but as production partners on series like "Los Heroes del Norte", "Sincronía" and "40 y 20".
"After the public allegations about sexual abuse of Karla Souza, and after a preliminary investigation, Televisa has decided to cut ties immediately and all relationships with Gustavo Loza," the statement read. "Furthermore, any project that has Loza's participation has been canceled. Loza is not an employee of Televisa, but has collaborated in projects with the network for several years. We want to manifest our solidarity with Karla Souza and are in the best disposition so the legal investigation. Televisa will not tolerate acts like the once revealed today."
Gustavo Loza has released a statement where he denies being the person that Karla Souza is referring to.
"I need to make it clear that Karla has not singled me out, there are no direct accusations against me in any of her interviews," Loza said in a statement. "For a reason that I am unaware of, Televisa irresponsibly has taken the liberty of judging the case and expose my name and career and causing discredit that will be difficult to get back."
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