‘Don’t recall the incident or her,’ Mukesh Kumar responds to MeToo allegations
After being accused of harassment by casting director Tess Joseph, actor and CPI(M) MLA Mukesh responded that he cannot recall the incident or the woman in the MeToo allegation.
“It says that the incident happened 10-20 years ago during the sets of ‘Koteeswaran’ and I don’t recollect it at all. But knowing my character, I would have never have done it. I will never do it. I did stay in Le Meridian hotel in Chennai like she said and that was the first time that I was staying in a 5 star hotel or above. I was not even aware that the crew was being housed in the same hotel. I don’t recollect seeing the girl at all. I couldn’t even recognise her from her picture,” he told media persons in Kerala on Wednesday.
On being accused of calling the Tess on the phone multiple times and later shifting her room to near his, Mukesh said that there was a misunderstanding and it could not have been him on the phone.
“I don’t know. It could maybe be another person called Mukesh Kumar. How can she confirm it was me from a phone call?,” he said.
On Tuesday, Tess Joseph, had put out a tweet saying that Mukesh harassed her during the shooting of ‘Koteeswaran’ 19 years ago and it was Derek O’Brien, her then boss, who came to her rescue and flew her out of the set.
“I was 20 years old quiz directing #koteeswaran when the mallu host #mukeshkumar called my room multiple times and then changed my room to beside his on the next sch. My then boss @derekobrienmp spoke to me for an hour & got me out on the next flight. 19 yrs on thank you Derek,” she wrote.
I was 20 years old quiz directing #koteeswaran when the mallu host #mukeshkumar called my room multiple times and then changed my room to beside his on the next sch. My then boss @derekobrienmp spoke to me for an hour & got me out on the next flight. 19 yrs on thank you Derek.
— Tess Joseph (@Tesselmania) October 9, 2018
Mukesh defended himself saying that Derek O’Brien remains a very close friend to date, which wouldn’t be the case had such an incident occurred.
“Derek O’Brien is a very close friend and my guru. He is the one who directed my first every TV show. After the first schedule of Koteeswaran, he was busy and he trusted me to take care of the shoot and didn’t come. This incident is supposed to have happened 20 years ago but 10 years ago Derek called me to his set (he was shooting a show for Discovery) and we caught up. He placed his hand on my shoulder and said I was the only friend he had in Kerala. Had I actually made this mistake, he wouldn’t have called me or caught up with me,” Mukesh added.
The actor also hinted that Tess Joseph’s intention may be to politicise the issue.
“The girl, Tess Joseph, said that she doesn’t want the issue to be widely publicised in the media and politicised. This need only be taken at face value,” he said
Mukesh has also said that he will discuss the issue with his party and if needed, file a defamation case against the complainant.