The 'Silicon Valley' star is accused of sexual assaulting and punching a woman when he was in college.
T.J. Miller is responding to claims that he sexually assaulted and punched a woman when he was a student at George Washington University.
The 36-year-old actor's accuser, who wishes to remain anonymous, spoke to The Daily Beast about an incident she claims occurred 15 years ago. “He just tried a lot of things without asking me, and at no point asked me if I was all right,” the woman says. “He choke[d] me, and I kept staring at his face hoping he would see that I was afraid and [that he] would stop… I couldn’t say anything.”
She also alleges that while "fooling around" with Miller, he started "violently" shaking her and then punched her in the mouth. The woman claims she awoke with a swollen lip and a fractured tooth.
According to the website, the allegations against Miller were addressed by the university's student court at the time.
On Tuesday, the former Silicon Valley star and his wife, Kate Gorney, posted a somber photo of them hugging, along with a lengthy statement where Miller denies the allegations, further claiming that his accuser has been trying to discredit him and his spouse for "over a decade."
"She was asked to leave our university comedy group because of worrisome and disturbing behavior, which angered her immensely," the statement reads. "She then became fixated on our relationship, and began telling people around campus 'I’m going to destroy them' and 'I’m going to ruin him.'"
Miller goes on to allege that the woman "began again to circulate rumors online" once his relationship with his wife became public. "Sadly she is now using the current climate to bandwagon and launch these false accusations again,” Miller writes, referencing the numerous women who have come forward this year with stories of sexual harassment and assault. “It is unfortunate that she is choosing this route as it undermines the important movement to make women feel safe coming forward about legitimate claims against real known predators."
The statement continues, "We stand together and will not allow this person to take advantage of a serious movement toward gender equality by allowing her to use this moment to muddy the water with an unrelated personal agenda. We feel we all have an obligation now more than ever to prevent people from using reporters to spin lies into headlines, and focus instead on what is real."
While Miller vehemently denies the woman's allegations, several people spoke with the Daily Beast in an effort to corroborate her story, including her roommate at the time, Katie Duffy, who says she testified on her behalf in student court. She claims that at the time that the incident allegedly took place, she heard loud noises from the woman's room which prompted her to knock on the door and check up on her roommate.
"She did indicate she was OK. Whatever response she gave, we felt we didn’t have to intervene further, at least at the time," Duffy says. "Looking back, I wish we had done more to intervene, but we didn’t know what was going on."
Duffy also alleges that the next day, the woman's physical appearance was concerning. "She looked like she had been through a rough night—I recall seeing bruises,” she notes. “One roommate asked if she wanted to go to the police. Others offered to take her to the hospital, given how she looked.”
In a recent interview with ET prior to these allegations being made public, Miller talked about the multiple men and women in Hollywood who have claimed to be victims of sexual misconduct.
"There needs to be a shift in culture," he conceded. "It's good [that abuses are coming to light] but it's also dampening everybody's spirit because it's just, like, more and more horribleness."
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