Former “Star Trek” star denies the incident ever occurred

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — The “Star Trek” icon George Takei took to Twitter on Saturday to deny he ever knew a struggling actor and model who has accused him of sexual assault in 1981.

“The events he describes back in the 1980s simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now,” the 80-year-old Takei said in a series of tweets.

Scott R. Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter he was 23 at the time, living in Hollywood and working as a waiter when he met Takei at a bar. They exchanged numbers, he said, speaking by telephone from time to time, when Takei invited Brunton to dinner, the theater and back to his condo for drinks soon after Brunton had broken up with a boyfriend.

He said he grew dizzy and “must have passed out,” awaking to his pants around his ankles and Takei groping him. He said he extricated himself and left.

The Hollywood Reporter said Friday it spoke to four longtime friends of Brunton who said he had confided in them about Takei years ago.

Takei said on Twitter that right now, it’s a “he said/he said situation” and that those who know him “understand that non-consensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful.”

Also Saturday, a clip of audio surfaced from Takei’s appearance on Howard Stern’s radio show last month. The interview was recorded less than two weeks after sexual assault accusations against fallen film mogul Harvey Weinstein were made public. Stern and Takei were discussing the “irony” of the Weinstein case and the audiotape of President Donald Trump boasting about grabbing women’s genitals years ago, when Stern asked Takei whether he had ever grabbed a man’s genitals against their will.

Takei, a staunch Trump opponent, initially was silent, then said “uh oh” and laughed. Stern asks again and Takei said “Some people are kind of skittish, or maybe, um, uh, afraid, and you’re trying to persuade.”

Stern and his co-host, Robin Quivers, persisted, asking Takei whether he ever held a job over somebody for sex and he said no.

Quivers asked if he did “this grabbing at work.” Takei said “It was either in my home. They came to my home.”

In another development in the barrage of sexual assault, harassment and rape allegations to rock the entertainment and other industries, Massachusetts prosecutors will meet with the son of a former Boston TV news anchor who said Kevin Spacey sexually assaulted the teenage boy at a Nantucket restaurant.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe told The Boston Globe on Friday the meeting “will occur soon.”

Heather Unruh told reporters Wednesday that Spacey stuck his hand down her then-18-year-old-son’s pants and grabbed his genitals while the two of them were at a restaurant in July 2016. Unruh said Spacey ultimately left to use the bathroom and when he was out of sight, her son ran away.

Here are the latest developments on sexual harassment and abuse allegations against men in the entertainment and media industries:

A Los Angeles-based writer says actor Richard Dreyfuss made lewd comments to her over the course of several years and exposed himself when she was summoned to his movie set trailer.

Vulture.com reports Jessica Teich said there were continual, overt and lewd comments and invitations from Dreyfuss in the 1980s.

Dreyfuss denied he ever exposed himself to Jessica Teich but said he thought the other encounters with her were a playful “consensual seduction ritual.” He admitted to flirting with her and has said he’s “horrified and bewildered to discover that it wasn’t consensual.”

Teich said she decided to speak out after Dreyfuss himself tweeted support for his son Harry after the younger Dreyfuss went public with accusations that Kevin Spacey groped his crotch when he was 18.

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A spokesman for a producer accused of molesting Anthony Edwards is denying the “ER” actor’s claims.

Sam Singer is a spokesman for producer and director Gary Goddard. He says in a statement issued Friday night that the producer unequivocally denies Edwards’ claims that were published in a post on the website Medium earlier in the day.

The actor accused Gary Goddard of molesting him when he was 12-years-old. He also alleges a friend was raped by the older man but he and his friends remained silent about the abuse.

Singer says Goddard was a “mentor, teacher and friend” to Edwards and worked as his personal manager. Singer says Goddard has great respect for the actor, but is saddened by what he called “false allegations.”

Edwards in his post said he’s been in therapy for years over the assault and confronted Goddard over it 22 years ago at an airport, in which “he swore to his remorse.”

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Pamela Adlon, an actress and writer who’s worked frequently with Louis C.K., says she and her family are “devastated and in shock” following the comedian’s admission of what she called “abhorrent behavior.”

In a statement Friday, Adlon says she feels sorrow and empathy for the women who have come forward with accounts of misbehavior by C.K.

Adlon, who stars in FX’s “Better Things,” which she created and produced with C.K., asked for privacy to process what’s happened.

She also appeared on his comedy “Louie” and appears in “I Love You, Daddy,” a C.K. film that was pulled from release this week following allegations of sexual harassment by five women against him.

FX has announced that C.K. and his company will no longer be producers of “Better Things” and three other C.K. projects with the network.

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The financial fallout to Louis C.K.’s acknowledgement of sexual misconduct has begun, with FX Networks and FX Productions announcing they will cut ties to the comedian, stripping his title as executive producer and taking away any compensation for the four projects they were working with him on.

In a statement, FX Productions says it will cancel a deal it had with C.K.’s production company, Pig Newton. The four projects in the works were “Better Things,” ”Baskets,” ”One Mississippi” and “The Cops.”

FX Networks and FX Productions say C.K. was a “professional” partner over the past eight years but “now is not the time for him to make television shows.”

The announcement came hours after C.K. said recent allegations of sexual misconduct are true and he released a statement expressing remorse about using his power “irresponsibly.”

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Actor Jeremy Piven has responded to another allegation of sexual misconduct against him by saying he hopes the string sexual harassment allegations sweeping Hollywood will lead to “a constructive dialogue on these issues.”

Piven made the statement on Twitter while denying an accusation made against him from an advertising executive. Tiffany Bacon Scourby tells People magazine Piven held her down while he performed a sexact at a hotel 14 years ago. She says she came forward to back up the claims of two other women who accused Piven of sexual misconduct.

Piven says that accusations against him “are absolutely false and completely fabricated” and added “continuing to tear each other down and destroy careers based on mere allegations is not productive on any level.”

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The BBC says it is pulling a new Agatha Christie adaptation from its television schedule because of sexual assault allegations against actor Ed Westwick.

Westwick appears in mystery thriller “Ordeal by Innocence,” which had been due to run over the Christmas period.

The BBC said Friday that “these are serious allegations which Ed Westwick has strenuously denied. The BBC is not making any judgment but until these matters are resolved we will not include ‘Ordeal by Innocence’ in the schedules.”

The broadcaster said Westwick has also paused filming on the 1980s-set sitcom “White Gold.”

Police in Los Angeles said Thursday they are investigating a sexual assault report filed against former “Gossip Girl” star Westwick.

In a Facebook post on Monday, actress Kristina Cohen said that Westwick sexually assaulted her three years ago. Westwick has denied the allegation. A second actress, Aurelie Wynn, also accused Westwick of sexually assaulting her in a Facebook post on Thursday.

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Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman says she is among the young women abused by a former USA Gymnastics team doctor.

Raisman tells “60 Minutes” she was 15 when she was first treated by Dr. Larry Nassar, who spent more than two decades working with athletes at USA Gymnastics. He’s now is in jail in Michigan awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.

Raisman, the captain of the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold-medal winning team, details the abuse in her book “Fierce,” which will be released on Nov. 14.

Raisman is the latest gymnast to claim she was abused by Nassar. McKayla Maroney, who won two medals at the 2012 Games as Raisman’s teammate, said last month she was molested for years by Nassar.

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Jenny McCarthy says actor Steven Seagal sexually harassed her during a 1995 audition.

The former Playboy model recounted her encounter with Seagal during a tryout for “Under Siege 2” on her Sirius XM radio show Thursday.

She says she was alone in the room with Seagal when he asked her to sit next to him on a couch. After she declined, she says Seagal asked her to take her clothes off even though the part required no nudity. McCarthy says she walked out of the audition, but Seagal followed her and warned her not to tell anyone.

McCarthy told the same story to Movieline in 1998.

A representative for Seagal didn’t immediately return a request for comment Friday, but a Seagal spokesman has denied the accusations to The Daily Beast.