Bright screenwriter Max Landis accused of sexual, psychological abuse by multiple women

Eight women have come forward to allege emotional and sexual abuse against Max Landis, who has written the script of Hollywood films such as American Ultra, Victor Frankenstein and Bright.

Max, son of director John Landis, has been accused of repeat offences by the women, who have detailed their experience to The Daily Beast.

[caption id=“attachment_6847581” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Max Landis. Image from Twitter[/caption] “He trusted that we wouldn’t ever say anything, worked actively to discredit people who were saying things, and was just as consistent in the abuse as he was with covering it up and manipulating us afterwards, an ex-girlfriend and former friend of Landis’, referred to in the article by the fictional name Julie, told The Daily Beast. “I didn’t realise that I had been raped consistently and deliberately by this man for two years until today, when I wrote it down. Other women have alleged Landis of similar behaviour, calling him out for his predatory practices that included pursuing women through his friend group, keeping a ranked list of the women he slept with and emotionally abusing his girlfriends for the way they looked. “Once he choked me and told me he wanted to kill me,” a woman, referred to in the article as Kerry, alleged. Former girlfriend Dani Manning claimed Landis would “smack food out of my hand in front of his family to stop me from eating it” and, on two other separate occasions, “choked.” He also threw a “plate of food” at her when she laughed at him. Another woman, Ashley Heffington Dionne, said she witnessed Landis sexually assaulting her friend, Callie Ray, who she described as “in and out of consciousness” at the time. Ray had filed a case against Landis in 2008 but it was eventually dropped. It is not the first time that Landis has faced such allegations. He was the subject of an anonymous account on Medium in 2017 where his predatory behaviour was detailed. Several of the women, who spoke to The Daily Beast, referred to the account in Medium to describe their experience with Landis. Tasha Goldthwait, who worked as a set costumer for Landis’ feature debut Me Him Her and Masha Mendieta, who worked on a student film that he reportedly produced, also accused him of sexual misconduct. The Daily Beast said they could not reach out to Landis for a comment.