After days of reports of accusations of sexual assault, former “Entourage” actor Jeremy Piven has issued a statement denying allegations.
On Oct. 30, former Playboy model and reality star Ariane Bellamar tweeted that she was cornered by Piven in his trailer years ago and groped.
On Nov. 1, actress Cassidy Freeman accused Piven of "predatory behavior" in an Instagram post that has since been deleted, but was captured in a screenshot by Deadline.
In the post, which had a screenshot of an article in which Piven said he "unequivocally" denied Bellamar's accusations, Freeman said Piven attempted an unspecified interaction with her.
“I know what you did and attempted to do to me when I was far too young. THAT I know,” Freeman wrote. “And you know it too. Unless there were so many of us, that you can’t remember.”
Her representatives had no comment on the matter when reached by Deadline.
Advertising executive Tiffany Bacon Scourby spoke to People about her interactions with Piven after Bellamar and Freeman's accusations. Her account was published by People Thursday.
Scourby said she met Piven at a New York work event in Oct. 2003. He gave her his number and invited her to be his guest as he was set to appear on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” the next day, Scourby said. Nothing happened until the next day, when she met him around 11 a.m. at the Trump International Hotel & Tower where he was staying.
Scourby said she was sitting next to Piven on a couch in the actor’s suite wiating to his publicist to show up when Piven forced himself on her.
“He jumped on top of me. I tried to push him off and he forced me to the ground,” she said, adding that she remained fully clothed, but that Piven exposed himself and rubbed up against her.
“I pushed him off of me and ran down the short hallway to get to the door,” she said. “I ran outside and hailed a cab and I just burst into tears. I cried the entire way back to my hotel.”
Piven, 52, denies Scourby’s claim.
“Let me be absolutely clear, this simply did not happen. I would never force myself on a woman, ever,” Piven said in a statement to People. “I cannot speak as to why a person would create a story like this.”
According to a representative for Piven, had the actor taken a polygraph test, it would prove the accusations are false.
“He’s now looking at legal options,” the representative said.
The actor released a statement on Twitter Thursday after Scourby's accusation in People.
“Let me begin by saying that the accusations against me are absolutely false and completely fabricated,” Piven said in the statement. “I would never force myself on a woman. Period. I have offered to take a polygraph to support my innocence. I keep asking myself, ‘How does one prove something didn’t happen?’
“What I am not able to do is speculate as to the motivations of these women. As a human being I feel compassionate for the victims of such acts, but I am perplexed as to the misdirection of anger with false accusations against me and hope they do not detract from the stories that should be heard.
“We seem to be entering dark times — allegations are being printed as facts and lives are being put in jeopardy without a hearing, due process or evidence. I hope we can give people the benefit of a doubt before we rush to judgment.
“Continuing to tear each other down and destroy careers based on mere allegations is not productive on any level. I hope we can use this moment to begin a constructive dialogue on these issues, which are real and need to be addressed.”
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