Charlyne Yi has alleged they were assaulted on Taika Waititi's upcoming Apple TV+ series,Time Bandits set. Photo / Getty Images
Charlyne Yi has alleged they were assaulted on Taika Waititi's upcoming Apple TV+ series,Time Bandits set. Photo / Getty Images
American actor Charlyne Yi has claimed they were assaulted and psychologically abused on the set of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s upcoming Apple TV+ series.
Yi - who uses they/them pronouns - made the allegations on Instagram, where they claimed they were forced to quit the series, Time Bandits, which was filmed in New Zealand in 2022 and 2023.
They claimed they were then denied compensation for their alleged injuries, which included a back injury and PTSD.
Without naming anyone specific, Yi claimed they were told they were able to leave the show if they wanted to.
They also alleged they were “gaslit by coworkers, producers and HR” and were told that by submitting to the unnamed alleged abuser, who is understood to be a male, they wouldn’t be physically assaulted any further.
Charlyne Yi has alleged in a scathing Instagram post that they were assaulted on Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clements’ ‘Time Bandits’ Set. Photo / Instagram @charlyne_yi
Yi claimed they had attempted to speak out multiple times only to be met with “death threats”, the threat of “being blacklisted” in the industry, and of being “sued”.
They added that they could not “even stand straight without shooting pains, could not sleep, and was constantly disassociating from chronic pain”.
“I want my worker’s comp so I can heal my back and PTSD from the physical assaults and psychological abuse on the Time Bandits set,” Yi wrote in a second Instagram post.
Charlyne Yi made the allegations in a post on their social media account. Photo / Instagram @charlyne_yi
Yi captioned the lengthy post: “Instead of asking ‘why did it take them so long to speak up’ why not ask ‘what institutions and circumstances make it unsafe to?’”
Speaking to Variety, a source claimed the alleged incident that left Yi with their injuries involved another actor picking them up and allegedly occurred on camera as they were filming a scene.
The outlet reported that the source did not deny Yi sustained a back injury but did dispute the allegation that Yi’s request for workers’ compensation was denied.
The source confirmed the actor left the production before it had finished filming. Speaking to the news outlet, the source claimed an official investigation was conducted after Yi made the claims, however the production company could not substantiate their allegations.
Yi was then reportedly presented with the option to continue working or leave before filming concluded. The source claimed the actor was offered the right to leave without enforcement of their contract agreement and that they would be paid for all episodes their character was employed to appear in.
Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi worked on the New Zealand filmed TV series. Photo / Getty Images
The TV series’ production company Paramount has issued a statement in light of the allegations, noting: “The safety of our cast and crew is very important to us, and we take all concerns that are raised to us very seriously.
“At the time of the complaint, Paramount Television Studios conducted a full investigation regarding allegations that were brought to our attention. While all investigations are confidential and we cannot comment on specifics, additional steps were taken to address concerns.”
When approached for comment by Variety, Waititi’s representative reportedly deferred to Paramount TV Studios.
