This one really bothers me. Moreso than the mess with Whedon, even. I liked Richard Stanley. I respected him. This was a guy who stepped away from Hollywood out of principle, who made his comeback on his own terms and proved he knew what he was doing. His comeback film, COLOR OUT OF SPACE, was a success both commercially (relatively speaking) and critically. (This is the same guy who brought us the excellent DUST DEVIL as well, in case you’d forgotten.) But now Stanley’s personal and business partner Scarlett Amaris has come forward with accusations of domestic abuse against him. Said Amaris: “I filed charges for Domestic Violence, Assault & Battery against Richard Stanley, my then long term life & creative partner in October, 2014, after he beat the shit out of me in our car parked behind the Banque Postale in Lavelanet, France when we were returning from a film festival in London. It was not the first time he had beaten me. In fact, he beaten the shit out of me numerous times, but I finally pressed charges against him that time…there are another set of charges against him for Domestic Violence, Assault & Battery from another woman who was his partner. Another woman who believed him and loved him, and whom he beat the shit out more than once, and who was afraid she was going to die by his hand. I remember that feeling all too well.”
SpectreVision, (Elijah Wood’s company, FYI), the company that produced COLOR OUT OF SPACE, has cut all ties with Stanley in the wake of these accusations.