The Broadway revival of the play Take Me Out has been a hot topic of conversation on social media in recent days, but it's not the production itself that has captured everyone's notice.
Rather, it's leaked nude videos of some of the play's stars during a scene that takes place in a locker room, with former Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams drawing particularly strong attention.
And another of the play's stars, Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson, is speaking out in his costars' defense amid the furor over the mega-viral videos, which were illegally recorded by audience members.
Ferguson took to Twitter to express his anger at what he called "disrespect" of his costars' vulnerability.
See his statement below.
In a quote-tweet of the show's production company statement on the incident, Ferguson wrote:
"I'm appalled by the disrespect shown to the actors of our company whose vulnerability on stage [every] night is crucial to Take Me Out."
"Anyone who applauds or trivializes this behavior has no place in the theater which has always been a safe space for artists & audience members."
In a follow-up tweet, Ferguson addressed those whose sole interest in the Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer-nominated play is the single, brief scene in which they can get a glimpse of Williams in the nude.
"And truly, if nudity is what you are coming for...you are in for a long boring night.
"It's within a challenging 2 and a half hour play with big ideas, beautiful language & remarkable acting from a company of 11 actors that you will have to sit thru as well."
"You'll be bored. Trust."
Far from the sort of Magic Mike-esque show the leaked videos may lead people to expect, Take Me Out tells the story of a major-league baseball player coming out as gay to his teammates and coach.
Such an event was as yet unknown in professional sports at the time of its writing and first production, and the play was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for its groundbreaking subject matter.
The current revival garnered four Tony Award nominations yesterday, including Best Actor noms for both Ferguson and Williams.
On Twitter, many applauded Ferguson for speaking out.
Actor's Equity, the trade union for theatre artists, has joined Ferguson in condemning the videos, calling them “sexual harassment and an appalling breach of consent."
