Jeremy Piven returns to set of 'Wisdom of the Crowd' amid allegations of sexual misconduct
Jeremy Piven is working through the drama. The actor was photographed on the set of Wisdom of the Crowd on Tuesday following accusations of sexual misconduct.
The 52-year-old star, who is best known for his role in Entourage, was snapped filming scenes with castmates Richard T. Jones and Ion Overman. He is the star of the CBS series — centered around a tech innovator who creates a special digital platform to help solve his own daughter’s murder — which premiered last month.
More dramatic than his new show, however, are the allegations of sexual misconduct against him in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein drama. On Monday, reality TV personality and actress Ariane Bellamar came forward on social media to accuse him of groping her on the set of Entourage as well as at the Playboy Mansion several years ago.
Piven “unequivocally “ denied the “appalling allegations” in a statement to Deadline, going so far as saying, “It did not happen.” He ended his statement by noting, “It takes a great deal of courage for victims to come forward with their histories, and my hope is that the allegations about me that didn’t happen, do not detract from stories that should be heard.”
His denial hasn’t deterred Bellamar. “Piven can deny whatever he wants to,” she tweeted on Tuesday. “Truth is truth. He cornered me in his trailer, he grabbed my breasts & ass. Sprint has records.”
She also asked the public’s help in finding an old interview in which Piven allegedly admitted during an interview to sexually harassing a female cast member in the ’90s.
Following Bellamar’s initial #MeToo posts, Smallville actress Cassidy Freeman came to her defense on Monday via Instagram and hinted at her own trouble with Piven. Along with a screenshot of a headline showing Piven’s denial, Freeman seemed to be speaking to Piven in her post, “You will deny this because, sadly, she’s deniable. The backlash this woman received was horrendous. And whether or not her accusations are true, the TRUTH is I know you. I know what you did and attempted to do to me when I was far too young. THAT I know. And you know it too.”
HBO, which aired Entourage, issued a statement saying it was “the first we are hearing about Ariane Bellamar’s allegations concerning Jeremy Piven.” And “everyone at HBO and our productions is aware that zero tolerance for sexual harassment is our policy.” Meanwhile, a spokesperson for CBS, which airs his new show, noted that the network was “aware of the media reports” and the matter is being looked into. The networks haven’t issued formal statements following Freeman’s post.
However, by Thursday afternoon, CBS announced that it was scrapping a previously taped interview scheduled to air on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Friday. “Jeremy Piven’s interview for Friday’s CBS broadcast was pre-taped earlier this week on Monday, Oct. 30,” the network said in a statement. “Since we were unable to address recent developments in that interview, we are replacing that segment with a new guest.”
Piven is just one of many famous men being accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. This week, Kevin Spacey was also singled out, by multiple people, leading to the shutdown of the production of House of Cards and “evaluation and treatment” for him. There have also been harassment claims and a rape allegations against movie director Brett Ratner. And Dustin Hoffman spoke out yesterday following an allegation of sexual harassment on a set in 1985 saying he was “sorry” and felt “terrible.”
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