NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Takei, Dreyfuss latest accused in harrassment scandal

NEW YORK

George Takei took to Twitter on Saturday to deny groping a male model, and Richard Dreyfuss said he never exposed himself to a female writer helping him with a TV script, both back in the 1980s.

Takei, the 80-year-old “Star Trek” icon, said in a series of tweets that events described by Scott R. Brunton in The Hollywood Reporter “simply did not occur,” and he does not remember ever knowing Brunton.

“Right now it is a he said/he said situation, over alleged events nearly 40 years ago. But those that know me understand that nonconsensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful,” Takei tweeted.

Dreyfuss, meanwhile, told the New York magazine blog Vulture he flirted and even kissed Los Angeles writer Jessica Teich over several years but thought it was a “consensual seduction ritual.” The fact that “I did not get it,” he said, “makes me reassess every relationship I have ever thought was playful and mutual.”

Teich told Vulture she first met Dreyfuss at a theater where she worked and they spent hours together over several years after she was hired to develop a script for an ABC comedy special. The actor, she said, made continual, overt and lewd comments and invitations but she never told anyone. Dreyfuss, now 70, called Teich a friend of more than 30 years.

Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter he was 23 when he first met Takei at a bar. They exchanged numbers, speaking by telephone from time to time, when he rang up Takei after breaking up with a boyfriend. Takei invited him to dinner and the theater, Brunton said. He said the two went to Takei’s condo for drinks after.

He said he grew dizzy and “must have passed out,” awaking to his pants around his ankles and Takei groping him. He said he extricated himself and left.

The Hollywood Reporter said Friday it spoke to four longtime friends of Brunton who said he had confided in them about Takei years ago.

Appeals judge halts museum’s planned sale of Rockwell art

PITTSFIELD, Mass.

An appeals court has ruled against a Massachusetts museum’s planned sale of 40 works of art, including two by Norman Rockwell.

An appeals court judge granted a motion Friday from Attorney General Maura Healey to stop the sale scheduled for Monday, so she can appeal a lower court ruling allowing the auction to go forward.

The Berkshire Eagle reported the injunction starts Monday. It will stay in effect until Dec. 11.

The order comes after a judge denied a bid Tuesday to stop the sale.

Rockwell’s three sons are among those fighting the sale. An attorney for his family said in a statement his clients support Friday’s decision. The family said the artwork should remain in the Berkshires “for all to enjoy.”

Associated Press