Star and creator of "Rehearsals" apologizes and shares the recovery process that has taken place in recent years: "It is not my job to determine if they will forgive me, I can only hope so"
A team of "rehearsals" players, Driggs from the bottom right
Photo:
Gideon Markovich
As part of an investigation by the website "Politically Calls", he published testimonies of four women who claim that the actor and director Erez Driggs sexually harassed them.
According to the findings of the investigation, Driggs (39) conducted inappropriate and blatant sexual correspondence with them over the years via the Facebook messenger, some of whom were even minors at the time.
The investigation was carried out following a post that journalist Ophir Sagersky posted on her Facebook about three weeks ago, in which she revealed that watching "rehearsals" raises triggers for messages with sexual content that Driggs used to send her.
Now, weeks after the publication of the affair that caused a stir, Driggs responds for the first time.
"The feeling of shame did not begin in the last week," Driggs began.
"I hang out with her for many years. She is accompanied by the knowledge that I have hurt quite a few people over the years. The recovery work I have been doing in recent years presents me with a mirror that reflects my past, and the character I see is awkward, rude, insensitive and self-centered. "But I wrote. And on the other side were women who read. And were hurt."
"It may sound strange but I also find it difficult to read these texts. I look at them as if for the first time, and it is not easy to suddenly meet in the face of who you were, to meet such a specific part of your previous life, terribly transcribed and worded."
"I was the one who was supposed to act responsibly. I wasn't supposed to try to take advantage of the expectation from me for something else, and I was supposed to be sensitive to detect discomfort and not move on."
"Therefore, when I am told that it was not clear enough from my first reaction whether I apologize or not, I feel obliged to make it clear: I certainly apologize. From the bottom of my heart. There will be no doubt for a moment. I will personally address my apology and remorse to them as best I can ".
"Addiction is not an excuse for sexual assault" is a text I saw this week.
Certainly not.
Addiction is not an excuse to hurt others.
Nor is she an alibi.
I'm not hiding behind my addiction, it's not the reason for anything bad I've done or will do in my life.
But she led me to live such a lifestyle that also included quite a bit of self-harm and others.
In fact, this is the clearest definition of whether or not you are addicted - "Does your behavior hurt you and hurt others?"
I started the recovery program four years ago, and surprisingly, or not, I was just about to start step 8 when this whole story started.
Step 8, for those unfamiliar with the 12-step recovery plan (and there is no reason to be) belongs to dealing with the people I have hurt along the way.
A piece of timing, probably part of how God arranges things for us in the world.
There is a lot of lack of knowledge about sex addiction and as part of my coping I chose to raise awareness and flood the issue in the series, in the character of Ofer, and later I also talked about it in the same press interview.
Maybe I should have done more, but I'm not sure I was ready by the end for total exposure.
But in this exposure there is value and it is for those who have corresponded with me.
They know today that I am the one who was wrong, not them.
That the blame and responsibility is mine, not theirs.
Exposure also has value to me for the men who read it.
Texts of this kind are on so many phones right now, not that everyone is addicted.
Definately not.
Except that the discourse behind the scenes is erratic, violent, borderless and inconsiderate, and it has become a part of our lives.
Also the sexual discourse.
Concepts like "rape" that I used should not find themselves in conversation.
It is not my job to determine if they will forgive me, I can only hope so.
Because I lead a completely different life today.
I have a home, a partner I love, a recovery routine.
And that despite everything I did, I was able to pursue a clean and professional career.
I would like to believe that the series and all the shows I created, that made people cry and laugh, that all of this will not be erased because of those terrible messages.
What is certain is that it takes courage to expose your vulnerability to the rest of the world, as those women did.
So even if at the moment my world seems to be shaking, I know how to appreciate their courage, and the discourse that has developed, that they are more important.
The heated public debate over the past week reflects the amount of emotions surrounding the issues that have arisen.
Maybe it's also worth asking what we as a society can do to encourage and help people come and admit they have a problem?
That they have hurt, and want to change and fix.
