Variety is reporting that former E.R. actor Anthony Edwards is accusing Gary Goddard of molesting him when he was a teenager. Variety reports that this is the same Gary Goddard known to theme park fans for his work on some of the industry's most popular and enduring attractions.
Working at Landmark Entertainment Group, Goddard produced multiple attractions for Universal Studios in the 1990s, including The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Jurassic Park: The Ride, and the recently closed Terminator 2 3D. After founding The Goddard Group in 2002, Goddard has gone on to produce Broadway shows, the Grammy Museum in LA, and multiple projects for Asian theme parks, including South Korea's Lotte World.
In addition to his work in the themed entertainment field, Goddard directed the 1987 movie Masters of the Universe.
Edwards wrote that he met Goddard when he was 12, when Goddard would have been 20, according to the birth dates on their respective Wikipedia pages. Variety quoted Goddard's lawyer as saying that Goddard was in China and that "we have not discussed this article."
The Goddard Group's website at www.garygoddard.com appears to be down now, redirecting to google.com. The Goddard Group's Twitter account and Facebook page are no longer available, either.
Update (Nov. 12): Variety has updated its story with a denial from Goddard's spokesperson.
As to the allegations that Mr. Edwards made in his post today, I can unequivocally deny them on Gary’s behalf. Gary played an important role in helping start Anthony’s acting career and acted as his personal manager. He has nothing but the greatest respect for Anthony as a person. Gary is saddened by the false allegations. The post by Anthony, as well as many of the news stories today reference a legal claim made against Gary approximately four years ago regarding sexual harassment. The complaint was demonstrated to be fraudulent as it was completely fabricated, and ultimately withdrawn by the complainant and his attorneys.
The Goddard Group's website is back online now, though the social media accounts remain missing.
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If they’re saying something else, then they are risking contempt of court charges.
Whether or not something has gotten to to legal stage, They are always at risk of a libel/defamation suit, unless they’re got a rock solid reasoning behind any conclusions they might cause. Robert probably can fill you in better what happens over your side of the pond.
In this case, the news is the implication as well as the disappearance of the company's online presence. I also added context to explain who Goddard is and why he would be relevant to this site's readers. And that's all I wrote.
Not just because I know media law. Because that's all the news is right now. There's plenty worth speculating about on this beat. This story is not one of them. I'll wait for more facts before proceeding here. But when I get more facts, I will report them.
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