SCREENSHOT VIA FOX2
Jeremy Piven appeared on Fox2 this morning. No mention multiple sexual misconduct allegations though.
Actor Jeremy Piven, whose fame hit a high-water mark with a role as an unhinged Hollywood agent who never no took for an answer, is currently trying to keep his career alive in the wake of multiple women accusing him of various forms of sexual misconduct.
With his standing as an actor tarnished, Piven is attempting a comeback as a stand-up comedian. His latest stop is St. Louis, where he's headlining five shows at the Helium Comedy Club. The first set is tonight.
Helium did not respond to a message seeking comment earlier today.
Accusations against Piven hit the public sphere last October, when actress Ariane Bellamar tweeted that Piven had groped her on the set of Entourage in 2005. Then a second actress came forward, putting Piven on blast for "what you did and attempted to do to me."
Eventually, six more women came forward with public accusations against the actor, describing incidents that included Piven allegedly holding a woman down while he rubbed against her to ejaculate. That incident, recounted by advertising executive Tiffany Bacon Scourby, was featured in the first of two investigations by BuzzFeed News.
From the November 22 BuzzFeed story:
Bacon Scourby said that after a few minutes of small talk in his room, Piven pinned her down, exposed his genitals, and masturbated on her. She recounted running from the room, rubbing his semen off her sweater, and calling a friend from a cab.
“I remember her calling me from the cab hysterically crying and going into graphic detail about what had happened,” the friend, Jay Gutnick, told BuzzFeed News. “She was in shock.”
Two other longtime friends of Bacon Scourby, Kristi Kelly and Kimiya Roesser, also told BuzzFeed News that she told them about the incident at the time.
Piven, for his part, has strongly denied the allegations, characterizing them as "completely fabricated." He even went as far as undergoing a polygraph test to prove his innocence.
But hey! It looks like Piven's already having a great time in St. Louis. This morning he hung out with various radio shows, including the bros on The Rizzuto Show on 105.7 The Point, and later remarked during a Fox-2 interview that he was looking forward to performing for a St. Louis audience.
"I have feeling that people here, like Chicago, are going to be a great audience and like to laugh," he said.
Follow Danny Wicentowski on Twitter at @D_Towski. E-mail the author at [email protected]
