Actor Steven Seagal resigns his JPSO reserve-deputy post
Published: Friday, October 01, 2010, 5:01 PM Updated: Friday, October 01, 2010, 5:27 PM
But fans of the show should get all of it they can while they can: Seagal, whom Harry Lee invited to join the JPSO as a reserve deputy more than two decades ago, has resigned from the force.
“He tendered his resignation about three and a half weeks ago maybe,” Sheriff Newell Normand said Friday (October 1). “I did not actually have any conversations with him. The production company had asked of me whether or not we were going to continue filming the show. I had indicated that we would not. Shortly thereafter I received his resignation.”
Kayden Nguyen filed a $1 million sexual harassment lawsuit against Seagal in April claiming that the actor attempted to keep Nguyen, who had applied in Los Angeles for a job as his personal assistant, as a “sex toy” in a Lafitte house during filming of the upcoming episodes.
The suit was dismissed in July, but Normand suspended production on the series at the time of its filing.
“We had this unfortunate incident, a situation I guess they ultimately reached some compromise on,” Normand said of the suit. “That’s, I guess, fine for him, but internally it would’ve required an internal investigation on that matter. We were going to proceed further once that matter was resolved and it was clear that she did not want to proceed criminally. We had reached out to Nguyen on several occasions to try and get her to come in, to no avail. Then we would have, because of the seriousness of the allegations, had an internal investigation.
“I don’t have any ill will toward him, and I don’t think they (Seagal, A&E and production entities Granada America and Steamroller Films) have any toward the JPSO.
“I think he just made a decision to move on.”
A&E promoted the first episodes of the series by distributing infant-sized flak jackets to TV critics. The show's Dec. 2, 2009 debut was the network's most-watched series premiere ever, drawing 3.5 million domestic viewers.
The series aired globally, and Normand noted the "overwhelmingly positive" feedback he received from far-flung law-enforcement colleagues.
A second season of 16 episodes was ordered in February 2010.
According to A&E, which through a publicity spokesman declined comment on news of Seagal's resignation from the JPSO, the concluding run of "Lawman" covers eight episodes.