'Charles in Charge' stars Nicole Eggert and Alexander Polinsky accuse Scott Baio abuse and misconduct
UPDATE: Feb. 8, 2018, 10:59 a.m. EST Alexander Polinsky, another actor on Charles in Charge, has also accused Scott Baio of abusive behavior on set. The story has been updated to include those details.
Charles in Charge star Nicole Eggert has her own #MeToo story to share about Scott Baio.
Eggert appeared on NBC's Megyn Kelly Today Tuesday to detail Baio's alleged "sexual touching and abuse" that started when Eggert was still just 14. One week later, fellow Charles in Charge actor Alexander Polinsky laid additional accusations against Baio on The Talk, saying he suffered mental and physical abuse from Baio as well as witnessing Baio acting inappropriately toward Eggert.
Eggert's interview comes only a few days after Eggert suggested on Twitter that she'd been "molested" on set by her co-star.
Baio responded to Eggert on Sunday with a Facebook Live video and subsequent text post in which he strenuously denied the allegations.
In her interview with Kelly, Eggert claims that Baio "immediately took to me and befriended me and earned my trust" when the show started shooting in the fall of 1986. "Then he started expressing his love for me," she said, pausing to suppress tears, "and talking about marriage in the future."
The first alleged incident occurred in the garage of Baio's California home, Eggert said. They were in his car and "he reached over and penetrated me with his finger," she said.
Baio's alleged improper behavior -- also illegal, as the legal age of consent in California is 18 -- continued from there. Eggert doesn't remember the number of times it happened, but it was frequent enough to be "probably once a week."
"And then on set, there was just a lot of groping, a lot of fondling, a lot of pulling me on his lap, trying to sneak kisses in the back, which other cast members saw."
Polinsky backed up Eggert's allegations later on The Talk, shutting down Baio's claim that the set of the show was a "picnic" and that he was never alone with Eggert.
"Working on the set of Charles in Charge from age 11 to 15 was no picnic," Polinsky said. "It was a toxic environment. I witnessed Scott Baio acting inappropriately towards Nicole Eggert during my first year of working on the show. I walked in on them together behind the set. Nicole was on Scott’s lap and he did not appreciate my intrusion. He yelled at me and called me various homophobic slurs."
Eggert has stayed mostly quiet after deleting her weekend tweets that outlined Baio's alleged behavior.
She removed any replies that got into the specifics of what happened, leaving only her initial tweet, the one that started this conversation and a supportive re-tweet from Adam Carl, an actor who appeared in one episode of Charles in Charge.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Baio has not publicly commented on social media since this interview.
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Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
