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Star Trek Icon George Takei Apologizes For Remarks on Howard Stern's Show


Star Trek: The Original Series star George Takei has issued an apology for comments he made during an interview with Howard Stern last month.

The interview was brought up after a former model accused Takei of sexually harassing him in 1981. Takei says that the remarks he made were distasteful jokes.

"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," Takei said on his Facebook page. "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."

The 80-year-old actor went on to deny the accusations made against him.

"For decades, I have played the part of a ‘naughty gay grandpa' when I visit Howard's show, a caricature I now regret," he writes. "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. I see now that it has come across poorly in the awkward sketch, and I apologize for playing along with Howard's insinuation.

"Non-consensual acts are anathema to me and my personal code of conduct, and I would never do something against anyone's will, period," Takei said.

Takei's comments on Howard Stern's show last month is relevant because of how similar it was to the account of his accuser, Scott Brunton, who claims that he fell asleep in Takei's home and awoke to his privates being touched. Here's what he said:

"We have the drink and he asks if I would like another. And I said sure. So, I have the second one, and then all of a sudden, I begin feeling very disoriented and dizzy, and I thought I was going to pass out. I said I need to sit down and he said sit over here and he had the giant yellow beanbag chair. So I sat down in that and leaned my head back and I must have passed out.
The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear. I came to and said, 'What are you doing?!' I said, 'I don't want to do this.' He goes, 'You need to relax. I am just trying to make you comfortable. Get comfortable.' And I said, 'No. I don't want to do this.' And I pushed him off and he said, 'OK, fine.' And I said I am going to go and he said, 'If you feel you must. You're in no condition to drive.' I said, 'I don't care I want to go.' So I managed to get my pants up and compose myself and I was just shocked. I walked out and went to my car until I felt well enough to drive home, and that was that."

Takei denied the accusations on his Facebook page, saying: "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. But I do take these claims very seriously, and I wanted to provide my response thoughtfully and not out of the moment."

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