Max Landis (screenwriter of Chronicle, American Ultra, and Bright) trended on social media last week due to a Tweet thread by ex-teacher and documentarian Ani Easton Baker, who publicly accused Landis of a pattern of “destructive” behavior during their former relationship. Baker was joined by actress Whitney Moore, who alleged that Landis did “horrific, inhumane things” to her as well while they dated, and Moore expressed sadness while accusing Landis of going on to “continue hurting people behind closed doors.” Eight women, including Baker, have now spoken to the Daily Beast about Landis for an exposé
Most of the women who gave statements to the Beast engaged in romantic relationships with Landis and alleged a variety of abusive behavior against him, including being a “serial rapist, gaslighter, physical and psychological abuser who tormented” them. Some of the women share their identities, but another, known as Julie, preferred to anonymously tell her story, and it’s a graphic portrait. Beyond the detailed allegations she makes about Landis choking her and purposely making her cry during sex, Julie accuses him of a pattern of isolation and manipulation against his alleged victims:
“He trusted that we wouldn’t ever say anything, worked actively to discredit people who were saying things, and was just as consistent in the abuse as he was with covering it up and manipulating us afterwards,” Julie*, an ex-girlfriend and former friend of Landis’s, explained. “I didn’t realize that I had been raped consistently and deliberately by this man for two years until today, when I wrote it down.”
Recently, Julie joined Baker in publicly denouncing Landis. “Even up until the end of last year, I told Max that after everything I still believed he was a Good Person and that he was Trying,” Julie explained in a written statement that she shared with The Daily Beast. “In short, the reason I let him back into my life was his subsequent relationships. The incredible, smart, nurturing and empathetic women he conned into a relationship after me seemed to vouch for his improvement and I thought, if these women believe in him, he must have learned. Just by association he seemed like a better person.”
While rumors have circulated across the internet about Landis over the years, the Beast collects many of these allegations in one place through statements from the eight women. One of them, jarringly, states, “We’re not people to him.” Landis and his representatives did decline to comment on the piece, which you can read in full here.
(Via Daily Beast)
