Jeremy Piven Accused of Sexual Misconduct by Three Women: ‘I Kept Trying to Push Him Away’
Three more women have come forward to accuse Jeremy Piven of sexual misconduct, with their allegations dating back to the 1980s. The actor, who won a Golden Globe and three Emmys for his role on “Entourage,” has now been publicly accused by a total of eight different women. The three new accusers, one of whom chose to remain anonymous, shared their stories with BuzzFeed News.
Susan McCain Olson says she met Piven while working as an extra on “Lucas” in 1985; one day, she claims, he followed her into a trailer and started forcibly kissing her. “At one point I kind of was like, ‘This is it, this is where I’m going to get raped,’” McCain Olson said. “I kept trying to push him away. I was like, ‘No, get off me.’” She was eventually able to run out of the trailer and says she never shared her story because she was “just an extra” and needed the job.
The woman who chose not to share her name says she met Piven in Montreal in the early 1990s while he was shooting a film. After offering to give him a tour of the city, she went to meet him at his hotel; the receptionist told her to go to Piven’s room, where he allegedly tried to kiss her against a wall. “I didn’t want to stick around to find out what else was going to happen,” she said, adding she was able to leave the room almost immediately. “[T]his was a little more violent than the other things that have happened to me. To have somebody force themselves on you like that, it made me feel very uncomfortable and grossed out.”
Diane Gonzalez also says she met Piven while he was working, this time on “Ellen.” She was serving as an extra on the sitcom in 1996, eventually going home with Piven after dinner and drinks with other members of the cast and crew. Though their encounter began consensually, Gonzalez alleges that Piven “grew more forceful” after a certain point. “I think the threat was just how aggressive and how strong he became as he was holding me down,” she said. “I just didn’t want it to get any worse. I’m just thankful I kind of got out there when I did.”
“These allegations, which in one case goes back more than 30 years and the two others more than 20 years ago, are false,” Piven said in a statement to BuzzFeed news. “As evidenced by the lie detector test I took and passed, I have never forced myself on anyone, nor have I ever exposed myself or restrained anyone against their will. To the contrary, if any woman ever said no, I stopped.” Read the original report here.
