Legendary costume designer and six-time Tony winner William Ivey Long—a onetime head of the American Theatre Wing, which gives out the Tony Awards—has been accused of sexual harassment and abuse by two different men, according to a Queerty item that cites NPR.
Court Watson and Michael Martin both say they were abused by Long between 1996 and 2002 when they were college students and working on a production in North Carolina called The Lost Colony.
NPR also unearthed a long-buried 2002 lawsuit related to “The Lost Colony” that contains additional allegations of sexual misconduct against Long, including claims that he forced two other men to have sex with each other while a board member of the theater watched. The lawsuit, which was ultimately settled out of court, also accuses Long of performing oral sex on a man against his wishes and then asking him to find “young boys with whom Mr. Long could engage in homosexual activity.”
Long is best known for designing costumes for the Broadway revival of Chicago, as well as recent shows like Beetlejuice and Tootsie. He was most recently involved with Diana: The Musical, which just opened on Broadway. In a statement, the producers of Diana: The Musical say they were aware of the allegations and mutually agreed to part ways with Long last summer so he could “address them in his own way.”
The NPR article is at http://www.npr.org/2021/11/16/1054756926/william-ivey-long-broadway-sexual-abuse?origin=NOTIFY.