casting couch
See also: casting-couch
English
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Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]casting couch (plural casting couches)
- (euphemistic) The now illegal practice of soliciting sexual favors from a job applicant in exchange for employment in the entertainment industry.
- 1978 June, Caryl Rivers, “Sexual Harassment: The executive's alternative to rape”, in Mother Jones Magazine, volume 3, number 5, page 22:
- ...when a writing test at a radio station turned into the casting-couch routine. She was typing a piece of copy when she realized the station manager had locked the door and was caressing her shoulders.
- 1982, Martin A. David, The dancer's audition book, page 111:
- What the term "casting couch" hints at is that roles or jobs are given in exchange for sexual favors.
- 2005, Dave Knox, Strike the baby and kill the blonde: an insider's guide to film slang, page 45:
- casting couch: This refers to the alleged practice by some Hollywood producers and directors of furnishing an office with a couch, upon which would-be actresses perform special services in return for casting consideration...
- 2020 January 29, Patricia Hurtado, “Weinstein Prosecutors Build Case That Casting Couch Was Trap”, in Bloomberg News:
- It wasn’t sexual assault, Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers argue in his defense, just the casting couch, with benefits for everyone who took a seat.
- (slang) A sofa on which a jobseeker is expected to perform sexual acts in return for a part in a film or other job; this practice.
- 1940, Raymond Chandler, chapter 8, in Farewell, My Lovely:
- There was a wide damask covered divan in a shadowy corner, like a casting couch.
Translations
[edit]illegal practice
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sofa
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