Marlee Matlin Reacts To Ex William Hurt's Death After She Accused Him Of Brutally Raping & Beating Her In The '80s
Mar. 14 2022, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Marlee Matlin had nothing but kind words to say about he ex-partner William Hurt, who died recently. The blonde beauty previously accused of brutally raping and beating her while they were together in the '80s.
“You’re the first person to ask me about him,” the actress, who is deaf, signed to a reporter on the Critics’ Choice Awards red carpet, which took place on Sunday, March 13.
“We’ve lost a really great actor and working with him on set in Children of a Lesser God will always be something I remember very fondly,” she continued. “He taught me a great deal as an actor and he was one-of-a-kind.”
That same day, it was revealed that Hunt, who appeared in The Big Chill and Broadcast News, passed away at 71 years old after a battle with prostate cancer.
“It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the passing of William Hurt, beloved father and Oscar winning actor, on March 13, 2022, one week before his 72nd birthday,’’ the late Hollywood star's son William said in a statement. “He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes. The family requests privacy at this time.”
The two actors met on set of Children of a Lesser God in 1986, and they started their romance, which was controversial, as she was 19 years old at the time and he was 35.
Later on, the actress claimed Hurt was abusive towards her, and one night he allegedly beat and raped her after she came home drunk at 4:30 a.m.
“The next thing I knew he’d pulled me out of the bed, screaming at me, shaking me,” she wrote in her book I'll Scream Later. “I was scared, I was sobbing. Then he threw me on the bed, started ripping off his clothes and mine. “I was crying. ’No, no, no. Please Bill, no.’ The next thing I remember is Bill ramming himself inside me as I sobbed.”
Hurt never denied the allegations, but instead, he issued a statement of his own, saying, “My own recollection is that we both apologized and both did a great deal to heal our lives. Of course, I did and do apologize for any pain I caused. And I know we both have grown. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good.”
