In an interview with KMXZ Tucson’s “The Morning Mix” on Thursday that’s gone viral, LA-based screenwriter Heather Robinson Ross gave her personal account of being sexually assaulted by a man she described as an “Oscar-winning producer” early on in her career. After the producer, whom she did not name, tried to force himself on her in a car, Ross said she told her friend actress Carrie Fisher about the terrifying encounter. What Ross described next reads like something straight out of a movie — and has added another epic episode to Fisher’s legendary Hollywood career.
Ross, who’s originally from Tucson, told the local talkshow host that in 2000 she had a meeting with an unnamed “Oscar-winning producer” to discuss a possible project. Noting that there was “nothing sexual” in their communication online before the meeting and saying she assumed she was “protected” from advances in part because she was “overweight” and wearing an outfit that made her look like an “olive,” Ross was shocked when the producer almost immediately forced himself on her.
It happened so quickly, I was ashamed of myself. I thought I did something wrong. And I thought well maybe by meeting up with him, by having lunch or dinner with him, that I was asking for it. So I stayed quiet for years because I didn’t want the retribution. … I was just some kid from Tucson, and this guy was a high-profile, Oscar-winning producer.
Pressed on what the producer tried to do, Ross explained that within a couple of minutes of having picked her up, he pulled over and forced himself on her:
He picked me up in Westwood, and within two minutes, we were driving in the car to go get something to eat, and he pulls the car over and says he has to get something out of the side pocket of the door over there. He reaches over and grabs the handle of the chair, the passenger seat, and flips me backward. And all of a sudden, he’s on top of me. And he has his right hand, that was “busy,” and he his left hand was on my chest by neck holding me down. … He said you’ll never make a movie in my town and get the eff out of my car. … I was shocked. I got out of that car and I literally ran, because I didn’t know what this guy was going to do to me. It happened so fast.
She told the host that she immediately informed her mom and friends and debated filing charges, but chose not to do anything for fear of repercussions. Asked if anyone wanted to “take action” against the producer, Ross said Carrie Fisher, whose initial instinct was to protect Ross, eventually sent the producer an impossible to miss message:
Carrie Fisher, a lot of people said in the news after her passing she was like a mother figure and she took care of people, and she did. And I was one of many. And when I told her about this … she was very protective of me and more scared for my safety than anything. And after that fear wore off, about two weeks later, she sent me a message online and she was like, “I just saw blank at Sony Studios. I knew he would probably be there so I went to his office and personally delivered a Tiffany box wrapped with a white bow … It was a cow tongue from Jerry’s Famous Deli in Westwood with a note that said, ‘If you ever touch my darling Heather or any other woman again, the next delivery will be something of yours in a much smaller box.'”
“And I about died,” said Ross.
Asked if it gave her confidence knowing that she had a powerful person fighting for her in Hollywood, Ross said yes. Asked how “pervasive” sexual harassment and assault are in Hollywood, Ross said it’s a massive problem.
Here’s the audio via KMXZ: