A lot of Hollywood figures you wouldn't expect to cross paths end up doing so because they share members of their team. It's not uncommon to meet someone because they have the same agent or management group, for example.
For Molly Shannon, the year was 1987. The up-and-coming comic signed with manager Mark Randall. Randall offered Shannon the opportunity to meet one of his big clients, Gary Coleman. Coleman was looking to transition to the next stage of his career after finishing Diff'rent Strokes in 1986.
Shannon met with Randall and Coleman for tea at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Afterward, Coleman invited both up to his penthouse suite. The situation turned uncomfortable when Randall left the room and Coleman, according to Shannon, set his sights on her.
Molly Shannon recalled what happened next in her memoir, Hello Molly!
"I think he was like, 'Sit down [on the bed].' It was very sweet," she recalled.
"And then he's, like, tickling me a little. This and that."
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Shannon said she was focused on "trying to be polite" but was also aware she was "a virgin" and grew concerned as things got increasingly aggressive.
"He was relentless," she continued.
"Then, he was like trying to kiss me and get on top and I was like, 'No, Gary. Stop.' So, I push him off. Then, I would get off the bed."
"Then, he would bounce on the bed. Jump, jump, jump. And wrap himself around me," she continued.
"Then, I would fling him off. And then he got on top of me. I guess because of his size I didn't feel physically threatened. But … it was going on and on. Repeating. I would throw him off, he would get back on."
"And then finally, I throw him off. I was really getting out of breath because it was athletic and aerobic," she shared.
"He grabs me onto my leg and I was like [trying to] kick him off. And then, I go lock myself in the bathroom and then he sticks his hands under the door. And he's like, 'I can see you.'"
Shannon "sprinted out" of the room when she got the chance, passing her manager on the way out. She told him to "watch" his client better.
"I wish I could have stood up for myself more," Shannon said of the incident.
Representatives for Gary Coleman have not commented on Molly Shannon's story. The actor died in 2010 at 42 years old after suffering an intracranial hemorrhage at his Utah home. He battled many medical issues throughout his life, as well as the kidney disease that stunted his growth at 4 feet, 8 inches.
