If anyone in the crazy film industry was the epitome of integrity, it was Bob Hudgins, who spent eight years in the Illinois Film Office and was a location scout for 15 years earlier.
Because of his unblemished Chicago reputation, Hudgins Chicago colleagues were shocked and disbelieving of the allegations of sexual harassment that caused him to resign as director of the Texas Film Commission.
“Bob is so hard working, honest, committed, such a decent man, I simply cannot believe these charges,” said Brenda Sexton, former Illinois Film Office director; Hudgins was her deputy director.
Hers was typical of the Chicago reaction to “the Kakfaesque situation,” as one supporter put it, that Hudgins finds himself in.
Hudgins, who will leave his position Nov. 30, denied the charges brought by an unnamed female commission employee. He told the Austin American-Statesman the charges were “incredibly scurrilous and without foundation.”
Apparently, much more serious allegations were made other than sexual allegations. “I’m pretty upset about it, to be honest,” he said.
Hudgins won’t discuss the details until he leaves the office, he said. The Texas Film Commission, based in Austin, is an Office of the Governor.
Hudgins was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry Hudgins 2006 after he spent eight years with the Illinois Film Office, the last three as deputy commissioner.
