--- title: Portia de Rossi Says Steven Seagal Sexually Harassed Her description: Portia de Rossi accused actor and director Steven Seagal of unzipping his pants in front of her during an audition. canonical: https://time.com/5017059/portia-de-rossi-steven-seagal-sexual-harassment/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-09T16:48:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:10:57.303Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Portia de Rossi Claims Steven Seagal Exposed Himself to Her og:description: The actor hasn't responded to the allegations og:url: https://time.com/5017059/portia-de-rossi-steven-seagal-sexual-harassment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a314e9c17792c72/6988e53286f68e8f6b6e72d2/portia-de-rossi-steven-speagal.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Portia de Rossi-Steven Seagal og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Portia de Rossi Claims Steven Seagal Exposed Himself to Her twitter:description: The actor hasn't responded to the allegations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a314e9c17792c72/6988e53286f68e8f6b6e72d2/portia-de-rossi-steven-speagal.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Portia de Rossi Claims Steven Seagal Exposed Himself to Her ## Video: Vladimir Putin Gives Russian Passport to Steven Seagal [Watch (HLS stream): Vladimir Putin Gives Russian Passport to Steven Seagal](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZwF3Ic6b.m3u8) (0:42)  _Published 2016-11-26. President Vladimir Putin has given a Russian passport to U.S. action film star Steven Seagal, calling it a sign of a thaw in relations with the United States._  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Nov 9, 2017 4:48 PM CUT  Actress Portia de Rossi claims Steven Seagal unzipped his pants in front of her during an audition. Actress Portia de Rossi claims Steven Seagal unzipped his pants in front of her during an audition.Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Nov 9, 2017 4:48 PM CUT Actor Portia de Rossi [alleged](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/portia-de-rossi-steven-seagal%5Fus%5F5a03905ae4b03deac08b0dad "undefined") in a tweet that Steven Seagal once unzipped his pants in front of her. De Rossi, who has appeared in _Ally McBeal_ and _Arrested Development_, said that the alleged behavior occurred during an audition. “He told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants,” she said. “I ran out and called my agent. Unfazed, she replied, ‘well, I didn’t know if he was your type.'” > [](https://twitter.com/portiaderossi/status/928393978080358404) Seagal, an actor and director known for his roles in _Above the Law_ and _Under Siege_, hasn’t commented on de Rossi’s allegations. His manager did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment. It’s not the first time that he’s faced accusations of inappropriate conduct. Former _The Good Wife_ star Julianna Margulies said during a Nov. 3 [interview](http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/julianna-margulies-steven-seagal-harvey-weinstein-1202607192/ "undefined") on the _Just Jenny Show_ that Seagal “made sure that I saw his gun” during an audition in his hotel room. _Inside Edition_ correspondent Lisa Guerrero [told _Newsweek_](http://www.newsweek.com/steven-seagal-harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-lisa-guerrero-683684?utm%5Fcampaign=NewsweekTwitter&utm%5Fsource=Twitter&utm%5Fmedium=Social "undefined") on Oct. 12 that the actor appeared in a robe during an audition at his home in the 1990s. Jenny McCarthy alleged in an 1998 [interview](http://movieline.com/2010/04/16/exclusive-the-full-steven-seagal-story-jenny-mccarthy-told-movieline-in-1998/ "undefined") with Moveline that Seagal asked her to take off her dress during an audition, which Seagal [denies](https://www.thedailybeast.com/gwyneth-paltrow-charlize-theron-and-more-casting-couch-horror-stories "undefined"). After de Rossi spoke up about her alleged encounter, her wife, Ellen DeGeneres, [tweeted:](https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/928445787461246977 "undefined") “I’m proud of my wife.” > [](https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/928445787461246977) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5017059/portia-de-rossi-steven-seagal-sexual-harassment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5017059/portia-de-rossi-steven-seagal-sexual-harassment/"},"headline":"Portia de Rossi Claims Steven Seagal Exposed Himself to Her","datePublished":"2017-11-09T16:48:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:10:57.303Z","description":"The actor hasn't responded to the allegations","url":"https://time.com/5017059/portia-de-rossi-steven-seagal-sexual-harassment/","keywords":["Hollywood","celebrities","sexual harassment","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a314e9c17792c72/6988e53286f68e8f6b6e72d2/portia-de-rossi-steven-speagal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a314e9c17792c72/6988e53286f68e8f6b6e72d2/portia-de-rossi-steven-speagal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Portia de Rossi-Steven Seagal","caption":"Portia de Rossi-Steven Seagal","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/hollywood/","name":"Hollywood"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5017059/portia-de-rossi-steven-seagal-sexual-harassment/","name":"Portia de Rossi Claims Steven Seagal Exposed Himself to Her"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Vladimir Putin Gives Russian Passport to Steven Seagal","description":"President Vladimir Putin has given a Russian passport to U.S. action film star Steven Seagal, calling it a sign of a thaw in relations with the United States.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZwF3Ic6b/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-11-26T21:53:13.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZwF3Ic6b.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5017059/portia-de-rossi-steven-seagal-sexual-harassment/","duration":"PT42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5017059/portia-de-rossi-steven-seagal-sexual-harassment/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```