EXCLUSIVE: A temporary harassment order issued against the flash Massachusetts star Ezra Miller after the mother of a 12-year-old accused Miller of acting inappropriately around her child was lifted Friday after a court hearing.
The mother, Shannon Guin, accused the fantastic beasts star of threatening his family and acting inappropriately towards his non-binary child in a story that appeared last summer in the daily beast.
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No criminal charges were ever filed. Miller’s attorney said all of the actor’s encounters with the child were initiated by the mother. Attorney Marissa Elkins said Miller was “never alone with the child and never interacted with the child outside of two brief encounters which occurred in the presence of several other adults”.
Elkins also said that Miller never had a gun on them during those encounters, as Guin claimed.
Miller appeared for a hearing on the matter today in Greenfield District Court. According to the sources and Elkins, Guin did not appear. The judge ruled that the order (read it here), originally set to expire on July 1, has been lifted.
“The original order, sued by Shannon Guin, on behalf of her minor child, was based on false allegations,” Elkins said. “Frustratingly for Ezra, Guin filed his false allegations at a time when Ezra was struggling with significant mental health issues and was unable to appear in court to defend himself against the false allegations made by this individual. Had Ezra been able to appear in court last year and share the truth about their very limited interactions with Ms Guin, I am confident the original order would never have been issued.
Miller also today released a statement obtained by Deadline, marking the second time they have spoken publicly since the flash first a few weeks ago.
‘I am heartened by today’s outcome and very grateful in this moment to everyone who has stood by me and sought to ensure that this gross misuse of the protective order system is stopped’ , they wrote.
“Protection orders are intended to ensure the safety of individuals, families and children who are at risk. They are not meant to be used as weapons by those seeking fleeting tabloid attention or fame or some kind of personal revenge when there are people who really and desperately need these services.
“I have been unjustly and directly targeted by an individual whose facts have shown to have a history of such manipulative and destructive actions,” they continued.
Read their full statement below.
Miller was slapped by the order during what was a tough summer last year, which included stealing liquor from a neighbor in Stamford, VT; Miller has reached a plea deal in the case and is serving a year’s probation. Additionally, the parents of then-18-year-old Tokata Iron Eyes asked a judge to issue a protective order against the actor, claiming that Miller had treated and brainwashed Tokata. Tokata has been recorded several times against her parents. They filed in June and withdrew their application for guardianship last August.
Miller publicly apologized last August, saying they “suffered from complex mental health issues and had begun ongoing treatment.” They also met with Warner Bros. top brass Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy to mend fences.
“I want to apologize to everyone for alarming and upsetting my past behavior,” they added in the statement last August. “I am committed to doing the work necessary to return to a healthy, safe and productive stage of my life.”
Meanwhile, filmmakers who have worked with Miller praise them for their talent and skills as an actor, including Flashis Andy Muschietti and DalIto land director Mary Harron. Muschietti even said he would work with Miller again in a Flash following.
Miller did not participate in the media tour for the flash neither do many of its actors. That factored into a lackluster opening for the DC movie, which Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and DC bosses Peter Safran and James Gunn had high hopes for. The picture opened in the United States to $55 million and had a running total of $94.2 million on Thursday and a worldwide gross of $217.5 million.
Here is today’s statement from Elkins:
Today, a harassment order against my client, Ezra Miller (they/them pronouns), issued by Greenfield District Court a year ago, expired.
The original order, sued by Shannon Guin, on behalf of her minor child, was based on false allegations. Frustratingly for Ezra, Guin filed his false allegations at a time when Ezra was struggling with significant mental health issues and was unable to appear in court to defend himself against the false allegations made by this individual. Had Ezra been able to appear in court last year and share the truth about their very limited interactions with Ms Guin, I am confident the original order would never have been issued.
After a year of intensive and ongoing mental health therapy, Ezra is doing much better. They were present in court today to ensure that these false allegations would not go unchallenged whether or not Guin returns to court to seek an extension of last year’s order.
Guin didn’t return to Greenfield District Court today to perpetuate her lies, but Ezra wants to take the opportunity now to clarify several things:
● Their three meetings with Guin were entirely initiated by her, extremely brief, and involved absolutely no inappropriate interaction with her child.
● My office thoroughly investigated Guin’s allegations. We interviewed multiple eyewitnesses to each encounter Ezra had with Ms. Guin and her child and reviewed the many text messages and Facebook messages Ms. Guin sent to people she knew from Ezra’s inner circle and is very clear: Ezra only came to interact with Mrs. Guin. Guin when she recognized Ezra and invited herself as they were visiting a good friend’s house in Greenfield.
● Ezra was never alone with the child and never interacted with the child outside of two brief encounters that occurred in the presence of several other adults.
● There was absolutely nothing inappropriate about Ezra’s very limited conversations with this young fan.
● Ezra never possessed, let alone displayed, a weapon in any of these brief encounters, as Ms. Guin claimed. These claims are fabrications.
Mrs. Guin sought out every opportunity for chance encounters with Ezra whenever they came to Greenfield to visit those same friends and attend musical events. Days before filing for the harassment order last year, Guin was still trying to ingratiate himself with Ezra’s fame and perceived wealth by texting Ezra’s friend, Whitney Suter, even trying to get away with it. orchestrate an invitation to Ezra’s house in Vermont. All of these efforts were rebuffed.
Ezra’s inability to appear in court prevented them from exposing Guin’s false claims, as well as presenting the aforementioned evidence. The media, clearly warned by Ms. Guin, reported her false claims without any diligent effort to corroborate her claims.
Ezra doesn’t deny that in the midst of their struggle, they made mistakes and sometimes behaved in ways they wish they could take back. This, however, does not make all allegations, rumors or false accusations true. There are real-world consequences when claims like these are recklessly amplified with no regard for facts or truth. These false allegations, fueled by unscrupulous media, threatened Ezra’s recovery and caused terrible damage to his reputation and career.
Nonetheless, Ezra is in a much healthier place than they were this time last year and is very happy to put that behind them. They are grateful to their family, friends and community for their love, compassion and support.
THANKS.
— Marissa Elkins, Esq.
Elkins, Auer, Rudof and Schiff
Here is Miller’s statement:
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