Former Charles in Charge actress Nicole Eggert filed a formal police report against co-star Scott Baio on Tuesday for allegedly sexually abusing her as a minor while the two worked together on the show.
Now another cast member is siding with Eggert.
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Alexander Polinsky, who played Adam Powell on the show, released a statement to The Talk on Wednesday.
“I witnessed Scott Baio acting inappropriately towards Nicole Eggert during my first year of working on the show,” Polinsky wrote. “I walked in on them together behind the set. Nicole was on Scott’s lap and he did not appreciate my intrusion. He yelled at me and called me various homophobic slurs. Growing up on the show I received regular verbal attacks, mental abuse and I also suffered a physical assault at the hands of Scott Baio.”
“There is no excuse for this behavior,” Polinsky continued. “Both Nicole and I were minors. We deserved sage passage to do our jobs and also be kids. If we want to change the culture, we have to bring out the truth, take back control from the abusers and make them listen to the pain of their victims.”
Polinsky worked with Eggert and Baio on the show across four seasons from 1987-90. He was 11 years old when he first witnessed the alleged abuse from Baio.
Despite Baio repeatedly denying the allegations, Eggert hired attorney Lisa Bloom to investigate the abuse, which she originally claimed on Twitter began when she was just 14 years old.
“Yesterday Nicole Eggert and I met with two police detectives from the sexual assault unit at my law firm,” Bloom said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Nicole answered all of their questions for over an hour and told her story of sexual abuse by Scott Baio when she was a minor. A witness, [Charles in Charge star] Alexander Polinsky, appeared as well and told the detectives about inappropriate touching he witnessed, as well as his own allegations of bullying by Scott Baio.”
“We appreciate the Los Angeles police detectives’ interest in this case, and we will fully cooperate with their investigation. Many have reached out to Nicole and me to say that they witnessed inappropriate behavior from Scott Baio when Nicole was underage. We provided a list of those names to the police. If anyone else has information about this matter please contact us,” Bloomd continued.
David Weintraub, Eggert’s manager, also spoke to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Nicole didn’t know what the statute of limitations was, but apparently the police are doing active investigations into a lot of these high-profile, older cases,” Weintraub said. “It’s been a very emotional and hard time for Nicole because her credibility and her truth has been questioned. She’s never had to defend what she’s saying so much. Meeting with the police was a groundbreaking moment because Alexander Polinsky also gave his statement. This is her truth. The most important thing is that people are standing by her.”
