Thomson Reuters
- Another actress has come forward alleging that former President George H.W. Bush had inappropriately touched her.
- Bush also reportedly told a lewd joke during the incident.
- Bush’s office released a statement saying that that he “patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner.”
Another accuser has come forward alleging that former President George H.W. Bush had inappropriately touched her, Deadspin reported Wednesday.
New York actress Jordana Grolnick told Deadspin that Bush touched her during a photo-op at a theater in Maine last year.
“We all circled around him and Barbara for a photo, and I was right next to him,” Grolnick said. “He reached his right hand around to my behind, and as we smiled for the photo he asked the group, ‘Do you want to know who my favorite magician is?'”
“As I felt his hand dig into my flesh, he said, ‘David Cop-a-Feel!'”
Grolnick said that people in the room “laughed politely and out of discomfort,” and that former first lady Barbara Bush “said something along the lines of, ‘He’s going to get himself put into jail!'”
“I just thought, ‘Whatever. He’s a dirty old man,'” Grolnick said.
Grolnick appeared to reflect on the incident and offered advice to others: “What I’ve come to realize is that if we tolerate these small comments and grazes from men on the street or former presidents, they might assume that it’s ok with us, and they may take it as permission to do who-knows-what else,” Grolnick said.
“I realize that making light of the situation was the wrong move. It wasn’t ok for him to do that to me.”
The latest allegation comes after actress Heather Lind claimed in a now-deleted Instagram post Tuesday that Bush repeatedly touched her from behind and said a lewd joke in 2014.
Following Lind’s allegation, the office of former President George H.W. Bush released a statement Wednesday saying Bush had, on occasion, “patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner.”
“To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke — and on occasion, he has patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner,” the statement read.
“Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate,” the statement continued. “To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely.”
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