PHOTOSAmy Smart's Husband & HGTV Star Carter Oosterhouse Accused of Sexual Misconduct
Dec. 15 2017, Updated 1:49 p.m. ET
Warning: Graphic Details. A former makeup artist for Carter Oosterhouse is claiming the HGTV star repeatedly coerced her into performing oral sex on him during the show Carter Can in 2008. Kailey Kaminsky spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about her alleged ordeal with Carter, who gained fame from TLC show Trading Spaces and went on to marry Just Friends actress Amy Smart in 2011. According to Kailey, Carter threatened to lose Kailey her job if she didn’t comply with his demands. Click through for more details on Kailey’s horrifying claims.
Kailey claimed Carter’s alleged harassment began a year into her job, when she and Carter traveled to his hometown of Traverse City, Michigan, for a location shoot. "He's like, 'You know what would be a good idea? If you went down on me,'" Kailey said.
While Kailey said she brushed off the comment “in a sarcastic way…thinking he was goofing around,” she said the requests continued, which surprised her since she identifies as a lesbian. “He was determined to get a blow job,” she told THR.
Back in L.A., Kailey claimed Carter “pulled off the road” while driving to a project site and asked Kailey if she enjoyed her job. When she said yes and that she’d like to do more than just the show, Kailey claimed Carter replied, “Well, I can help you with that. But you need to do something for me.”
After the exchange in the car, Kailey said she agreed to Carter’s requests 10 to 15 times, fearing Carter would end her career if she didn’t. Kailey told THR there was no “reciprocal physical intimacy” and that Carter “insisted on finishing on my face — every time — knowing that I had to go back out and work.”
Kailey said that by late October 2008, she developed a stomach ulcer from anxiety and was hospitalized for a week. "I kept beating myself up psychologically — that I was nothing but a prostitute,” she said.
Kailey admitted she told two female producers about the situation, but “went out of my way to pretend it was something that I was participating in willfully.” “It was Stockholm Syndrome-y, justifying-what-you’re-doing,” she said.
Eventually, Kailey was replaced on the show and left L.A. to receive in-patient treatment for depression. "I was basically nonfunctioning, unable to hold a job,” she claimed. "I had no self-esteem. I just spiraled further and further down."
Carter released a statement in response to Kailey’s allegations, in which he claimed his relationship with Kailey was “100% mutual and consensual” and that she “initiated it.” “It's upsetting that she now feels this way, I only wish her the best and truly hope that she can move forward,” he added.
What do you think of Kailey's allegations against Carter? Sound off in the comments below.
