Judy Garland Was Constantly Groped By Munchkins On The 'Wizard Of Oz' Set, According To Memoir

Well, this is a lot! Judy Garland's ex-husband Sidney Luft alleges in a soon-to-be-released posthumous memoir, Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland, that 15-year-old Judy Garland was tortured, harassed and groped constantly on the set of Wizard of Oz by drunk munchkins. Well! In an excerpt published by People, Luft claimed:

"They would make Judy's life miserable on set by putting their hands under her dress. The men were 40 or more years old. They thought they could get away with anything because they're so small."

This isn't the first time we've heard some highly suspect stories about the lollipop guild. In a 1967 interview with Jack Paar, Judy Garland described the actors that played the munchkins as "little drunks," saying "they put them all in one hotel... they got smashed every night, and they picked them up in butterfly nets." There are some wild rumors about the Motley Crue-style antics of the munchkin actors in this hotel as well, started by the producer of Wizard of Oz, Mervyn LeRoy. After the movie wrapped, LeRoy claimed, "They had sex orgies in the hotel, and we had to have police on just about every floor." Just wow!

Margaret Pellegrini, who played one of the munchkins at 15 refuted the orgy rumors in a 2009 statement to The Independent. "There were a lot of them who liked to go out and have a few drinks, but nothing got out of hand," she said. Everyone was having a good time and enjoying themselves. There was no rowdiness or anything like that, and those stories are very upsetting." I think we can all agree with Margaret on that!

Luft's memoir is set to be released on March 1.

[h/t Vanity Fair]