Kevin Tsujihara quits: Warner Bros boss resigns amid affair allegations

British actress Charlotte Kirk said today that she was “deeply saddened’ over the resignation of a top Hollywood studio boss amid allegations they had an affair and he tried to get her roles in films and TV shows.

The 26-year-old Oceans 8 star spoke out after Warner Bros Chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara, 54, became the latest senior media figure to be toppled in the #MeToo era.

“I am deeply saddened to hear the news of Kevin Tsujihara stepping down at Warners. Our relationship ended many years ago,” the Kent-born actress said in a statement to Fox News.

“The release of the story by The Hollywood Reporter was nothing to do with me,” she added. “In fact I tried to prevent it. Whatever differences we may have had in the past were long since forgotten. I only wish him the best of success in his future endeavours.”

Hours earlier, Warner Bros. confirmed Mr Tsujihara, who is married, had quit as a result of the scandal that first broke earlier this month with a story in the Hollywood Reporter claiming the aspiring actress and the studio chief exchanged salacious text messages that suggested he would help her land roles at the time they were having an affair.

“It is in the best interest of WarnerMedia, Warner Bros, our employees and our partners for Kevin to step down as Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros,” said WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey.

“Kevin has contributed greatly to the studio’s success over the past 25 years and for that we thank him. Kevin acknowledges that his mistakes are inconsistent with the Company’s leadership expectations and could impact the Company’s ability to execute going forward,” he added.

According to Deadline, Mr Tsujihara explained his reasons for leaving in a memo to staff, saying it was in Warner Bros “best interests” for him to resign.

“I love this company and the people that make it so great. I’ve been honoured to head this organisation and work alongside all of its talented employees over the past 25 years,” he is said to have written.

“Together we’ve built this studio into an unequivocal leader in the industry. However, it has become clear that my continued leadership could be a distraction and an obstacle to the company’s continued success.”

The couple reportedly met in 2013 when they were introduced by Australian billionaire James Packer at a hotel in Los Angeles.

At the time, Mr Packer and his business partner, director Brett Ratner, were negotiating a multi-multi-million deal with the movie studio behind blockbuster franchises including Batman and Harry Potter.

In a text to Mr Ratner, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Ms Kirk, who lives in Los Angeles, said she was “used as icing on the cake” for the deal.

In a text to Mr Packer, she is said to have written: “I didn’t expect to be part of a business deal so all I’m asking is u just help me with a couple of roles it’s not big deal and then we’ll just put this all behind us.”

Ms Kirk, who stars as Nicole Brown Simpson in the upcoming film Nicole & O.J, about the OJ Simpson murder trial, has denied her relationship with the studio boss was “casting couch sex.”

“Whatever work I got from an audition would be on my own professional acting ability and merit,” she told the Mail on Sunday.

She emphatically denied in a statement that she leaked the texts to the Hollywood Reporter. “I acknowledge I may have made some poor choices and I’m sorry for that, but I’ve learned from my mistakes since then and have grown a lot, as a person, as a woman, and as a professional actor,” she added.