From CNN: From CNN:
(CNN)Ben Affleck has apologized for groping Hilarie Burton during an appearance on MTV's "Total Request Live" years ago.
The incident took place when Burton, who recurs on Fox's "Lethal Weapon," was a co-host on MTV's "Total Request Live," a daily music video countdown that ran for ten years until 2008 and was recently revived by the network."I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize," Affleck wrote on Twitter.
Video of the incident resurfaced Wednesday after Affleck joined a chorus of others in denouncing the actions of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who stands accused of numerous incidents of sexual harassment and three incidents of rape.The New York Times and the New Yorker detailed the allegations in separate stories published within the last week.A representative for Weinstein denied the allegations of sexual assault in a statement to CNN."Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances," the statement read in part.Burton's encounter with Affleck was recalled by Burton on Twitter in reply to a fan who brought up the incident.
Clearly, the lynch mob is coming for Ben Affleck, which to be honest he kinda stepped in it when he condemned Weinstien on Twitter. He should have stayed out of it. Now the internet is reliving every dumb thing Ben has done to a woman ever....Also it doesn't help his brother has also been of accused of being very rapey towards women...I'm in no way giving Ben a pass for this, but this thing is going to turn into a witch hunt & it's very weird to see things play out like this.
On Wednesday, Ben Affleck—who recently took to Facebook to denounce Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment—was called out on Twitter for grabbing One Tree Hill actress Hilarie Burton's breast during a 2003 TRLinterview. Affleck tweeted an apology to Burton on Twitter after footage of the incident resurfaced, but the internet quickly discovered it wasn't the only time the actor had man-handled a woman on camera.
During a 2004 interview with Canadian reporter Anne-Marie Losique to promote Jersey Girl, Affleck pulls Losique onto his lap, asks her why she wasn't showing more cleavage, and then tells her that the TV station would "like it better if [she] did this show topless."
"You usually show a lot more cleavage than this," Affleck says in the interview. "What's the story? Why are you covering it up today?"
"These breasts are really firm... suspiciously firm, they are like two giant stones," he says. "It's a sports bra," Losique replies.
Affleck—who was engaged to Jennifer Lopez at the time—then asks Losique if she "has a boyfriend back in Montreal" and later jokes that "all [she wants] to do is have sex all the time." Later in the interview, he puts on a fake French accent and jokes about appearing disabled.
"Don't make me look like I am retarded," he says. "I look like I have cerebral palsy!"
The 2004 interview, which reportedly appeared on Canada's Box-Office, resurfaced after Affleck said he was "angry" at Weinstein for using "his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass, and manipulate many women over decades" in a Facebook post. When one Twitter user brought up the TRLincident with Burton, the actress, who was just 21 at the time, replied she "had to laugh back then so [she] wouldn't cry." One of Weinstein's accusers, Rose McGowan, also tweeted that Affleck was a liar and had known about Weinstein's ongoing sexual abuse for years.
Losique has joked about sitting on Affleck's lap in the past and told the Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday that the clip "has been blown out of proportion."
"I know that people like fishing for anything, but this is completely out of context," she said. "It was for a show I was producing, so I was not at all a victim. When the cameras rolled, we would start to do that game. As soon as it stopped rolling, there was none of that. He never touched me in any improper way. He was very respectful, I must say."
Still, it's hard not to watch the footage and not feel pretty gross about the whole thing.
Side Note: I hope all of the people(mostly black people) that whinned and complained Bill Cosby was unfairly treated with his rape scandal now can shut the hell up. It doesn't matter if you are black, white, or whatever. We(society) don't like rapists....
So will this scandal hurt Justice League? I doubt the media won't ask him tough questions about this scandal when the film comes out as they did with Nate Parker with Brith of a Nation & his scandal.
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