Ben Affleck has issued an apology to TV personality Hilarie Burton, after a clip of him groping her live on MTV’s ‘TRL’ in 2003 resurfaced.
The video began doing the rounds after Ben commented on the sexual abuse allegations which have been levelled against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
One Twitter user posted that the actor had “grabbed Hilarie Burton’s breasts on TRL once”, but “everyone forgot”, to which Hilarie wrote back: “I didn’t forget.”
She then remarked over a number of tweets: “I was a kid… I had to laugh back then so I wouldn’t cry.”
Hilarie also shared a clip of an opening moment from ‘TRL Uncensored’, in which she recalls Ben “turning around and grabbing her left boob”.
In response to Hilarie’s remarks about his ‘TRL’ appearance, Ben tweeted simply: “I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologise.”
Earlier this week, Ben posted a statement on Facebook in response to sexual harassment accusations about film producer Harvey Weinstein, with whom he has collaborated on several occasions.
He wrote: “The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick.This is completely unacceptable, and I find myself asking what I can do to make sure this doesn’t happen to others.”
However, actress Rose McGowan later accused Ben of “lying” in his statement, claiming she’d previously told him about Weinstein’s misconduct.
Rose’s Twitter account has since been suspended, urging her Instagram followers to “be her voice” while she’s unable to access the social media site, adding: “There are powerful forces at work.”