The week began with Jonah Hill’s ex-girlfriend Sarah Brady’s public accusations that he was “emotionally abusive” during their relationship, and a couple more accounts of the actor’s alleged past behavior have now emerged.
Here’s an explainer:
What’s the latest?
After Brady’s accusation, Alexa Nikolas, an actress from Zoey 101, made her own the same day on Twitter. She said that, 15 years ago, when she was 16, eight years younger than Hill’s then 24, she ran into him at a party at Justin Long’s house. Hill asked if Nikolas wanted a cigarette, and she says that when they went outside to retrieve the smokes from his car, something else happened.
“#JonahHill didn’t hand me the cig, which I thought was weird,” Nikolas wrote, “and then as we walked back to the door I asked him for it, and he said nothing but slammed me to the door and shoved his tongue down my throat.”
Hill’s lawyer Marty Singer, who previously defended Bill Cosby, dismissed Nikolas’s accusation. He said her story “never happened,” that it was a “complete fabrication” and labeled her a “serial accuser” for making “assorted accusations against multiple men in the entertainment industry.”
The leader of the organization Eat Predators, Nikolas has spoken out about her experiences with Dan Schneider and protested at Nickelodeon and music companies.
Another thing that’s resurfaced is an interview that Jay Baruchel did with the late Larry King in 2018, in which he was asked what his relationship was like with Hill, his co-star in the 2013 movie This Is the End.
“There is one, I guess,” Baruchel said awkwardly. “I know the man.”
“You don’t like him?” King asked.
“I wouldn’t say that… at this point,” Baruchel said before laughing. “It was contentious once upon a time, but I think now we’re sort of, we’re each the devil the other one knows.”
What did Brady say that started all of this?
Over the weekend, Brady, a pro surfer and law student, shared various alleged text messages between her and Hill in which The Wolf of Wall Street star criticized her for posting pictures in a bathing suit. Hill supposedly said she couldn’t surf with men and laid out other “boundaries” for their “romantic partnership.” (Yahoo Entertainment has been unable to confirm the validity of the messages and a rep for Hill did not respond.)
Hill, who’s now 39, and Brady, 26, began dating in 2021 and split last year. The actor recently welcomed his first child with his fiancée, Olivia Millar — and Brady said that’s part of the reason she’s sharing her experience.
Why did Brady decide to speak out now?
Brady said she didn’t want to come forward while Millar was pregnant.
“I didn’t want her to have to see all of this while she was pregnant because I didn’t know what kind of stress that would cause on her and her baby, like, physically and everything,” Brady said in a voice memo posted to her to her Instagram Story on Sunday.
Brady explained that while “the timing can seem bad,” she had good intentions.
“I just hope she would receive some of these screenshots somehow through friends, like, friends of mine that I met through him that I know are good people that I know would make an effort to protect her,” Brady shared.
The surfer added, “I waited until she had her baby so I knew they were physically not impacted by me sharing this s*** and she could be informed and make an informed decision of how she wants to care for herself and her baby, which she birthed and she created.”
What did the supposed texts say, exactly?
In the messages Brady shared, “Jonah” (per her contacts) asked her to stop modeling and not have “boundaryless inappropriate relationships with men.” He purportedly suggested she end “friendships with women who are in unstable places and from your wild recent past beyond getting a lunch or coffee or something respectful.” It appears that specific text is from December 2021.
Brady released a message she sent back, including a list of “all the posts I removed from my page.” Hill apparently responded, “good start.”
Brady insinuated the actor is a “narcissistic misogynist.”
Has Hill responded? And how have other people reacted?
No, the Oscar-nominated star has not publicly addressed the allegations. In August 2022, Hill deleted social media and said he’d be taking a break from promoting any projects due to 20 years of anxiety attacks.
“I usually cringe at letters or statements like this but I understand that I am of the privileged few who can afford to take time off. I won’t lose my job while working on my anxiety,” Hill’s statement read in part, noting he’s “hoping to make it more normal for people to talk and act on this stuff. So they can take steps towards feeling better and so that the people in their lives might understand their issues more clearly.”
Some have commented that Brady had no right to share her texts with Hill.
But Hill also has faced scrutiny for his satirical clothing line, Meaningful Existence, which he launched earlier this year. People have been quick to notice some ironic merchandise for sale. There’s an “emotional baggage tote” that reads, “Complete Unrelenting Control.” (It can be yours for $30.) “Complete Unrelenting Control” appears to be the brand’s tagline and it appears on various apparel items. In light of Brady’s revelations, the streetwear slogan is now being seen as questionable by some critics.
This story was originally published on July 10, 2023.
