'Star Trek' actor Takei denies accusation that he groped man in 1981
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,” waking to find 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.”
By The Associated Press
