SANTIAGO – A renowned Chilean filmmaker has announced he is exiting the production company he founded 12 years ago and denies sexual misconduct allegations made by local actresses.
Nicolas Lopez, the director of No Filter, announced Sunday he is stepping down from his production company Sobras, which he founded more than a decade ago, after allegations of sexual misconduct emerged in a story published on Saturday by local magazine Sabado.
“I don’t want an event from my private life hurting my colleagues and friends, the crew, or the actors. I want people to know that I’m the only one responsible for all the things that are being said about me,” he said through a YouTube video posted on Sunday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVoXIdV4jFo
The 35-year-old also denied harassment accusations described by several actresses on the story, which included inappropriate behavior like unwanted kissing and groping, and masturbating in front of one woman.
“I’m not a harasser. I’m not an abuser. I may have been out of place, a skirt-chaser, a rascal, or a dick … but I’m not that,” he said, and added he was still “stunned” after reading “all these statements by people who I considered friends or close to me, trusted people with whom I had a relationship.
“I was shocked to see they felt bad due to my actions. So, I take this opportunity to apologize for how they felt, and I hope all this is clarified soon,” said Lopez.
Chilean film director Nicolas Lopez accused of sexual harassment
Meanwhile, local media reported Netflix has issued a statement through its local press agency saying the company has licensed Lopez’s films in the past and that their deal with Lopez on an upcoming project is now “under review.”
The fallout also includes actress Javiera Contador exiting Sobras’ next feature Hazte Hombre, a Chilean remake of Lopez’s own Mexican hit Do It Like an Hombre, according to La Tercera newspaper.
Lopez gained fame through his trilogy Que pena tu vida, Que pena tu boda and Que pena tu familia, before in 2005 directing Santos, a film about a failed comic artist.
A collaborator of horror filmmaker and actor Eli Roth, Lopez co-wrote the screenplay to Roth’s 2012 film Aftershock as well as his 2015 film Knock Knock. Lopez has also produced 2013’s The Green Inferno and Aaron Burns’ 2016 horror film Madre.
