UPDATE - 2:00 p.m.: On Monday, Alison Brie took to Twitter to clarify that she was not asked to get completely topless when she auditioned for “Entourage” years ago.
PREVIOUSLY, June 12 - 10:59 a.m.: Alison Brie has never been on “Entourage,” but she does recall auditioning for the HBO show and being asked to take her top off.
After a screening of her new Netflix series “GLOW” at the ATX Television festival in Austin, Texas, Sunday, Brie and co-star Betty Gilpin, who play actresses trying to find work in the 1980s, were candid about how little progress has been made in Hollywood since that era.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Brie told the crowd, “It has not changed that much. The audition process has not changed that much.”
“Early in my career, I auditioned for three lines on an episode of ‘Entourage’ that I had to go on in a bikini!” she said. “Or, like, shorts and the tiniest shorts. And they were like, ‘OK, can you take your top off now?’”
Jen Euston, the casting director for “GLOW,” reacted to the situation on Twitter.
HBO had no information regarding Brie’s claims, and a rep for the actress wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Brie doesn’t have a problem with nudity ― she actually appears nude in her new show ― but the “Entourage” audition she described is clearly problematic. But it’s nothing new when it comes to the exploitation of women and sexism in Hollywood.
Last year, actress Rose McGowan claimed she was fired by her agent after she spoke out about sexism in Hollywood when she pointed out an absurd casting note attached to an audition script for an unspecified Adam Sandler film that encouraged those auditioning to wear form-fitting clothing that showed off their cleavage, and to wear a pushup bra.
“GLOW” will premiere on Netflix June 23.
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