George Takei Accused of Sexual Assault

George Takei has been accused of sexual assault by a former actor and model, who claims that the Star Trek legend groped him without his consent in 1981.

"This happened a long time ago, but I have never forgotten it," says Scott R. Brunton, who was 23 at the time of the alleged assault. He told the The Hollywood Reporter that the incident is "one of those stories you tell with a group of people when people are recounting bizarre instances in their lives, this always comes up. I have been telling it for years, but I am suddenly very nervous telling it."

Brunton says that he met Takei in Hollywood in the early 80s and the two exchanged phone numbers. When Brunton broke up with a man he'd been dating, Takei invited him out for dinner. "He was very good at consoling me and understanding that I was upset and still in love with my boyfriend. He was a great ear. He was very good about me spilling my heart on my sleeve," Brunton explains.

But things took a turn when the pair returned to Takei's condo.

"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 spoke with four longtime friends of Brunton's who all confirmed having heard the story.

Takei responded to the accusations on Twitter, claiming that the events Brunton described "simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now. I have wracked my brain to ask if I remember Mr. Brunton, and I cannot say I do. Right now it is a he said / he said situation, over alleged events nearly 40 years ago. But those that know me 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."