Alexander Payne Denies Rose McGowan Accusation of Underage Sexual Misconduct
Alexander Payne has denied an accusation of sexual misconduct against actress Rose McGowan, who accused the “Sideways” director of grooming her into a sexual relationship and showing her a soft-core pornography film when she was 15.
Payne in a guest column in Deadline refuted the timeline and said he had never crossed paths with McGowan at the time she claimed the incident took place. He further denied ever directing a film under a different name or working with Showtime.
“Rose is mistaken in saying we met when she was fifteen, in the late 1980s. I was a full-time film student at UCLA from 1984 until 1990, and I know that our paths never crossed,” Payne wrote.
Also Read: Rose McGowan Accuses 'Sideways' Director Alexander Payne of Sexual Misconduct
He continued: “She claims that I showed her a ‘soft-core porn movie’ I had directed for Showtime ‘under a different name.’ This would have been impossible, since I had never directed anything professionally, lurid or otherwise. I have also never worked for Showtime or directed under any name other than my own.”
“Alexander Payne. You sat me down & played a soft-core porn movie you directed for Showtime under a different name. I still remember your apartment in Silverlake. You are very well-endowed,” McGowan wrote on Twitter back in August. “You left me on a street corner afterwards. I was 15.”
McGowan would later follow up that post with a statement saying, “I just want an acknowledgment and an apology. I do not want to destroy. This was me at 15.”
Also Read: Alyssa Milano Counters Rose McGowan's 'F-ing Fraud' Accusation: 'Hurt People Hurt People'
Payne added that he did meet McGowan in 1991 during his first directing job for a show for Playboy Channel but that she did not get the part, and that they went out on subsequent dates but have remained friendly for years afterwards.
“While I cannot allow false statements about events twenty-nine years ago to go uncorrected, I will continue to wish only the best for Rose,” he concluded.
Payne, who is 59, would have been around 27-years-old at the time of McGowan’s accusation.
The actress has become a leading figure in the #MeToo movement since she accused Weinstein of raping her at a Sundance Film Festival hotel in the late ’90s. Since coming forward with her story, she has starred in “Citizen Rose,” a four-part docu-series on E!, and become the first woman to win the Inspiration prize at the GQ Men Of The Year awards.
Read Payne’s full guest column via Deadline.
Read original story Alexander Payne Denies Rose McGowan Accusation of Underage Sexual Misconduct At TheWrap
