In 2020, MythBusters star Adam Savage was accused of childhood rape by his sister, Miranda Pacchiana. The accusations rocked fans of the show, particularly as Pacchiana's lawsuit included extremely difficult details.
As LittleThings noted at the time, the lawsuit began, "Beginning in or about 1976 and continuing until approximately 1979, Adam Savage, would repeatedly rape Miranda Pacchiana and force oral sex upon her, and forced Miranda to perform oral sex on him, along with other forms of sexual abuse."
Prior to filing the suit, Pacchiana had blogged extensively about her childhood on her website The Second Wound. In one post, she explained why she filed the suit in the first place:
"The public needs to know that Adam Savage sexually abused me when I was a child, as set forth in the lawsuit that I have finally been able to bring after all of these years."
While responding to the lawsuit, Savage insisted the allegations against him were part of a decades-long series of attacks. "While I hope that my sister gets the help she needs to find peace, this needs to end," he stated. "For many years, she has relentlessly and falsely attacked me and other members of my family to anyone who will listen. By spreading numerous untrue stories about us in pursuit of a financial bonanza, she has tortured our entire family and estranged herself from all of us. I will fight this groundless and offensive lawsuit and work to put this to rest once and for all."
Savage's mother also sided with her son, telling Variety, "It makes me very sad to say this, but my daughter suffers from severe mental health challenges, and it’s devastating that she’s putting Adam and our entire family through this. Adam is a good man, and I support him completely."
News surrounding the lawsuit stayed quiet after the initial filing, but court documents reveal that both parties battled back and forth for a little over a year before reaching a resolution.
In April 2021, a letter submitted in the case indicated that both parties had agreed to attend meditation in an attempt to solve the case without going to trial. The legal team for Pacchiana requested a 60-day extension to pursue mediation.
A letter submitted roughly a month later indicates both parties agreed to an out-of-court settlement, and the case against Adam Savage was dismissed on May 25, 2021. However, that doesn't mean that Pacchiana has stopped blogging on her site about her own life and experiences.
In a post written in observance of Thanksgiving in November 2020, she wrote, "I am the only authority on me. I know what I’ve lived through, how it’s affected me, what I needed then, and what I need now. Nobody else gets to tell me differently. And if they try, I now have the confidence to shut them down. I will no longer waste my time trying to convince other people to understand.
"I will never 'make nice' and attend a gathering with my abuser present.
"I do not have to accept other people’s choices to remain 'neutral' in the case of our broken relationship – despite the fact that someone objectively injured me.
"I will always reject the fact that loved ones seem to equate the actual abuse with my anger over the abuse."
