Actress Nicole Eggert claims that when she on the sitcom Charles in Charge in the 1980s, she and the show’s star, Scott Baio, had sexual encounters beginning when she was just 14 years old, and then had sex when she was 17. Baio, more than 10 years Eggert’s senior, denies the allegations.
Eggert alluded to an inappropriate encounter in a recent tweet.
Earlier this month, Eggert taped an interview with Dr. Oz where she discussed her allegations, but Baio’s lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to the show, and the episode has not aired. A representative from the show told TMZ that they are investigating the matter.
On Tuesday, however, Eggert appeared on Megyn Kelly TODAY and spoke out.
Eggert said that when she was 14, they were in his garage, when “he reached over and penetrated me with his finger.” She said continuing abuse took place after that, “more than once a week” for years. She said they had sex for the first time when she was 17. Kelly pointed out that the age of consent in California was 18.
Eggert said that Baio played on her emotions and hormones, as well as her career concerns.
“The issue with him is that he was our boss,” Eggert said. “He was telling me ‘you can’t tell anybody, this is illegal, I’ll go to jail, the show will be over.”
Baio posted a recorded a response to the allegations on Facebook, saying that he did have a consensual sexual relationship with Eggert after the two of them had finished Charles in Charge and she was 18 years old. He said that if Eggert had legitimate allegations, she should have gone to authorities, not Twitter.
“If you have a real claim, you go to the real people, not social media where people like me get beat up,” Baio said.
Baio has also called out Eggert for saying in the past that their relationship took place when she was of age and Charles in Charge was over. Eggert told Kelly that at the time, she covered up the abuse because she was ashamed and didn’t want to portray the show in a bad light.
[Image via NBC screengrab]