George Takei Sexual Assault Allegations

Overview

George Takei Sexual Assault Allegations refer to allegations made against actor George Takei that he sexually assaulted model Scott R. Brunton in 1981. Takei denied the claims and claimed that Russian bots were spreading the rumors.

History

On Novemebr 10th, 2017, The Hollywood Reporter^[1] published an interview with model Scott R. Brunton in which he stated Takei sexually assaulted him in 1981. Brunton's account of the night reads:

We have the drink and he asks if I would like another, and I said sure. So, I have the second one, and then all of a sudden, I begin feeling very disoriented and dizzy, and I thought I was going to pass out. I said I need to sit down and he said sit over here and he had the giant yellow beanbag chair. So I sat down in that and leaned my head back and I must have passed out. The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear. I came to and said, 'What are you doing?!' I said, 'I don't want to do this.' He goes, 'You need to relax. I am just trying to make you comfortable. Get comfortable.' And I said, 'No. I don't want to do this.' And I pushed him off and he said, 'OK, fine.' And I said I am going to go and he said, 'If you feel you must. You're in no condition to drive.' I said, 'I don't care I want to go.' So I managed to get my pants up and compose myself and I was just shocked. I walked out and went to my car until I felt well enough to drive home, and that was that."

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed with several of Brunton's friends that Brunton had told them the story years ago. The two met later and Brunton says he wished to confront Takei about the incident but could not bring himself to do it.

Developments

The morning following the Hollywood Reporter story, Takei denied the allegations in a Facebook post.^[2] He stated that the events "simply did not occur," that he did not remember Brunton, and that those that know him know non-consensual acts are antithetical to his values.

However, comments made by Takei on The Howard Stern Show in October of 2017 seem to indicate Takei had at least done something similar to what Brunton was accusing him of doing. On the show, when asked if Takei had ever grabbed a man's genitals, Takei said “Some people are kind of skittish, or maybe, um, uh, afraid, and you’re trying to persuade.” The audio (shown below) was uncovered by The Hollywood Reporter on November 11th.^[3]

Takei's Russian Bots Claim

On November 12th, Takei tweeted a chart from SecuringDemocracy.org and alleged that "Russian bots" had been amplifying the story (shown below). Though the tweet has since been deleted, a screenshot was circulated by several Twitter users.

Many on Twitter accused Takei of and harshly criticized him for trying to deflect the allegations by chalking it up to Russian interference. Twitter user @SlimJosa^[4] accused Takei of pandering to his #Resistance followers by pushing a Russian conspiracy (shown below, left). Twitter user @surfbordt^[5] did the same, gaining 75 retweets and over 500 likes (shown below, right). The claim and the reaction towards it was initially covered by Uproxx^[6] and then by many media outlets including Huffington Post,^[7] GQ Magazine,^[8] The Daily Mail^[9] and The NY Daily News.^[10]

Search Interest

External References