One of the realities of the #MeToo movement is reckoning with accusations of sexual harassment and assault which occurred years (or in some cases, decades) ago.
In October of last year, Italian actress Asia Argento alleged that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in 1997. Former war reporter Linda Vester has accused news anchor Tom Brokaw of making unwanted advances on her in a hotel room over 23 years ago. Cori Thomas claims that actor Dustin Hoffman exposed himself to her in 1980 when she was 16 years old. All of these claims have been determined to hold a certain amount of validity.
While many of the powerful men at the center of the stories typically deny these claims, particularly if the incidents in question occurred many years ago, it is important to remember that a woman coming forward about sexual misconduct years after the fact does not necessarily disqualify her story.
Recently, a woman came forward to Las Vegas police to report actor and musician Jamie Foxx for apparently slapping her in the face with his penis almost 16 years ago.
Woman Claims Jamie Foxx Hit Her with Penis in 2002, He’s Fighting Back Legally https://t.co/xfJKzitEQF
— TMZ (@TMZ) June 13, 2018
As Page Six reports:
The alleged incident took place in 2002, but the woman making the claim only went to Las Vegas police last week, according to TMZ. The woman claims she and a friend were partying at the Oscar winner’s pad when he allegedly asked her for oral sex. She claims that when she refused, Foxx slapped her face with his penis.
The incident apparently resulted in some emotional trauma. The next day, the woman went to a hospital in Los Angeles for treatment of what she describes as a severe panic attack.
Foxx’s representative “emphatically denied” the accusations to TMZ, and says that Foxx is pursuing legal action.
“Jamie emphatically denies that this incident ever occurred, and he will be filing a report with the Las Vegas Police Department against the woman for filing a false police report against him,” Jamie’s attorney, Allison Hart said in a statement. “The first time (Jamie) became aware of this woman’s absurd claims about an incident that supposedly occurred 16 years ago was when TMZ contacted his representatives (Tuesday) about this story.”
“The alleged incident was not reported to law enforcement in 2002, or at any other time in the last 16 years until last Friday because the incident never happened,” Hart added.
While many people on Twitter seem to be laughing or rolling their eyes over the nature of the woman’s claims and the fact that the incident occurred almost 20 years ago, journalist and activist Shaun King reports that the anonymous woman isn’t the only person with allegations against Foxx.
According to Las Vegas PD, the investigation into the anonymous woman’s claims is currently open — however, the statute of limitations expired after three years.
It remains unclear whether or not any of the other women from King’s conversations will come forward in light of these recent developments.