Jeremy Piven has offered to take a lie detector test after being accused of sexual assault by three women.
The former ‘Entourage’ actor insists the claims made against him by Ariane Bellamar, Cassidy Freeman and Tiffany Bacon Sourby are "absolutely false and completely fabricated" and is determined to do what it takes to prove his innocence.
In a statement on Twitter, he said: "Let me begin by saying that the accusations against me are absolutely false and completely fabricated. I would never force myself on a woman. Period.
"I have offered to take a polygraph to support my innocence. I keep asking myself, ‘How does one prove something didn’t happen?’ "
The 52-year-old actor expressed his concern that what he insists are "false accusations" will detract attention away from other allegations.
He continued: "What I am not able to do is speculate as to the motivations of these women. As a human being I feel compassion for the victims of such acts, but I am perplexed as to the misdirection of anger with false accusations against me and hope they do not detract from the stories that should be heard."
And Piven warned against "dark times" that are seeing claims of sexual misconduct made public without "a hearing, due process or evidence.
He concluded: "We seem to be entering dark times–allegations are being printed as facts and lives are being put in jeopardy without a hearing, due process or evidence. I hope we can give people the benefit of a doubt before we rush to judgment.
"Continuing to tear each other down and destroy careers based on mere allegations is not productive on any level.
"I hope we can use this moment to begin a constructive dialogue on these issues, which are real and need to be addressed."
Jeremy Piven offers to take lie detector test
