here's the video of Ben Affleck groping Hilarie Burton on TRL in the early 2000s pic.twitter.com/cVAjAswnjB

— Krystie Lee Yandoli (@KrystieLYandoli) October 11, 2017

Let The Hollywood Fall Out Begin, Ben Affleck You’re Up

11 Oct, 2017

Ben Affleck has publicly apologized and admitted acting ‘inappropriately’ after actress Hilarie Burton accused him of groping her breast on a 2003 episode of TRL.

The Hollywood actor tweeted a short statement on the incident just hours after it was raised by the One Tree Hill actress in light of the Weinstein sex scandal.

‘I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize’, he wrote.

Burton claims she was groped by Affleck during his appearance on MTV’s TRL in 2003.

The former host of the show shared the allegations on Tuesday night, just hours after Affleck made a statement condemning Harvey Weinstein’s alleged abusive actions in his sexual assault and harassment scandal.

In it he Affleck said he was ‘saddened and angry’ over the ‘sickening’ claims.

Affleck’s statement was quickly slammed by a number of people – including Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan who called Affleck a liar.

When a fan tweeted that Affleck might as well have ‘kept quiet,’ another Twitter user wrote: ‘He also grabbed Hilarie Burton’s breasts on TRL once. Everyone forgot though.’

The actress then surprised the Twitter thread by interjecting with: ‘I didn’t forget.’

The incident reportedly happened when he appeared on the show in 2003. Burton was 21.

A video clip from the show shows Affleck telling Burton a story mid-interview which appears to be about moves men use to pick up women.

He leans his arm around the young host who is wearing a yellow bandeau dress. No groping is seen on camera but Burton noticeably jumps and looks shocked on the footage as Affleck smiles and returns to his seat.

Speaking further about the incident, Hilarie thanked the Twitter user, writing: ‘I was a kid…Girls. I’m so impressed with you brave ones. I had to laugh back then so I wouldn’t cry. Sending love.’

She then tweeted a clip from an interview she did taking fans behind the scenes at TRL. In it she relives and laughs off the incident.

‘He wraps his arm around me and comes over and tweaks my left boob,’ she says.

‘I’m just like, ‘what are you doing’…Some girls like a good tweakage here and there – I like a high five.’

A female producer then speaks about the incident.

‘I don’t know what happened but Hilarie was like ‘ooo’.  There was a little squeeze, I don’t know.’

Further footage shows Affleck asking the host, ‘how old are you – 19?’. He would have been around 31 at the time of the recording.

Burton is known for her portrayal as Peyton Sawyer on One Tree Hill, Sara Ellis in White Collar and Karen Palmer in Lethal Weapon.

Her first role was on TRL where she worked as a host from 1999 until she was cast as Peyton on One Tree Hill. She is married to Walking Dead actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Earlier on Tuesday Rose McGowan harshly criticized Affleck on Twitter – even going to far as to call him a liar.

She tweeted: ‘@benaffleck “GODD*MNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT” you said that to my face. The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie.’

The actress, was allegedly assaulted by Weinstein in 1997 and has been crusading against silence over Weinstein’s grim past, and was the first of many to point out the 45-year-old actor’s claims to obliviousness.

She then tweeted a screengrab of her message onto her main timeline with the message: ‘You want to play let’s play #ROSEARMY.’

Daily Mail

Image YahooUK

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