Veteran actor
George Takei has issued an apology for his remarks on grabbing men, saying he was joking when he made those comments on RJ-presenter
Howard Stern's show last month.
The "
Star Trek
" icon was recently accused of sexual harassment by former model-actor Scott R Brunton, when the latter was 23 and at his was most vulnerable.
Takei took to Facebook to clear the air, when a piece of audio surfaced online from Stern's radio programme after the claims, which underscores the actor discussing sexual harassment in the wake of
Harvey Weinstein expose.
"Many have raised concern over a back-and-forth between Howard Stern and myself, where we joked about me touching men during my 'Star Trek' days fifty years ago. Out of context, I agree that the joke was distasteful, and I'm very sorry he and I made fun out of a serious matter.
"But I want to be clear: I have never forced myself upon someone during a date. Sometimes my dates were the initiators, and sometimes I was. It was always by mutual consent," he wrote.
According to a leading entertainment website the veteran actor had commented on US President Donald Trump gloating about groping women, when Stern asked him if had grabbed a man against his will.
Takei, a vocal opponent of the POTUS, answered Stern only after he was asked the second time, saying, "Some people are kind of skittish, or maybe, um, uh, afraid, and you're trying to persuade."
When the show's co-host Robin Quivers persisted, asking if Takei did "this grabbing at work", he replied, "It was either in my home. They came to my home."
The actor denied Brunton's claims, questioning the veracity of events.
"I want to assure you all that I am as shocked and bewildered at these claims as you must feel reading them. The events he describes back in the 1980s 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..." Takei wrote.
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