The Last Of Us star Ashley Johnson, plus several other women, sue former Critical Role staffer for abuse

Several women—including Ashley Johnson, who starred as Ellie in best-selling video game series The Last Of Us, and portrayed a key role in its recent HBO TV adaptation—have come forward with accusations of abuse and sexual assault against former Critical Role employee Brian Foster. Johnson (who was previously in a long-term relationship with Foster), plus five other named women and one whose identity has been anonymized, have now filed a lawsuit against Foster, accusing him of a “disturbing pattern and practice of chilling and depraved behavior towards women,” and suing him on charges of “domestic violence, sexual battery, assault, stalking, civil rights violations, gender violence, and the intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

In the suit, Johnson alleges that Foster, who she began dating in 2012, frequently abused drugs and alcohol, and, after their relationship ended earlier this year, attempted to extort her for $150,000. (He is also accused of using her home’s security system to track her movements.) Her sister, Haylie Langseth, is also a plaintiff in the suit, saying Foster groped her in front of several people, and that she felt pressured not to report him because she feared he would retaliate against her sister.

Foster worked for Critical Role for several years, appearing on multiple specials from the Dungeons & Dragons-based web series; he also hosted several official talk shows centered on the franchise’s content. He left Critical Role in 2021, with the company, at the time, expressing “mad love and support” for him; the lawsuit now alleges that he was actually fired, at least in part over his behavior on social media. In July of 2023, Critical Role pulled all of its content featuring Foster from its channels, after Johnson, one of the show’s key cast members, filed a restraining order against him, first making allegations of abuse public.

In addition to the accusations from Johnson and her sister, the lawsuit also includes accusations of verbal abuse and groping from several other women, including subordinates at Critical Role, who state that Foster used his status as the company to gain access to women. Foster has yet to comment on the lawsuit, while Critical Role—which gained increased prominence over the last few years, after its first campaign was adapted by Amazon into the animated The Legend Of Vox Machina—issued the following statement:

We are aware of the civil complaint that includes disturbing details about the alleged behavior of one of our ex-employees, Brian W. Foster. While we can’t get into the specifics of the lawsuit, we want to make it clear that we had no knowledge of any of his alleged behavior. It is heartbreaking to us that some of our colleagues went through this, and we’re committed to supporting them however we can. We are working with our HR team and our staff directly to ensure our workplace and culture live up to all of our expectations.

[via THR]