Chilean filmmaker Nicolás López has been accused of sexual misconduct and harassment by multiple women, including by at least one actress who appeared in one of his films.
The report, published in the Spanish-language magazine El Mercurio on Saturday, features eight women who accuse López of various acts of misconduct, ranging from online harassment to unwanted groping to masturbating in front of one woman without her consent.
López, who made his start in Spanish-language movies such as “Promedio Rojo” and the “Que Pena Tu Vida” series, has also collaborated with director Eli Roth on several U.S. releases, co-writing the English-language horror movies “Aftershock” and “Knock Knock.”
According to El Mercurio, Chilean actress and singer Daniela Ginestar said she went to dinner with López and ended up back at his house. There, she said López showed her video of himself having sex with a famous TV actress and implied that she would have to do the same if she wanted to work for him. He then proceeded to masturbate in front of her, Ginestar said.
Chilean model Bernardita Cruz told the magazine that López made lewd comments about her breasts and groped her in a bar in 2012.
Another woman, María Vidaurre, said that López invited her to his house in 2015 for a casting session and then pushed her onto a bed and climbed on top of her before she managed to extricate herself.
Andrea Velasco, an actress in López’s “Que Pena Tu Vida” trilogy, also accused the director of professional discrimination and harassment, El Mercurio reported.
Velasco told the magazine that López and his partner, Miguel Asensio, paid her an unusually low rate for her work on the first two movies in the series and were outraged when she enlisted her brother, a lawyer, to help her negotiate a fairer rate for the third film.
She accused the two of badmouthing her publicly and vowed never to work with them again.
López’s representatives did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment, but earlier this month he denied to La Tercera that he has committed any crimes or actions that would constitute harassment.
“I was raised in a full toxic macho society where we all have to learn without a guide how to relate to the female gender,” he told La Tercera. “I am the first one to recognize that I’ve been an imbecile thousands of times, like any other person. I’m single, I’m 35, I’ve had many different situations — none of which are grave or illegal, fortunately.”