Jeremy Piven 'Unequivocally' Denies Groping Accusations: 'It Did Not Happen'

Entourage and Wisdom of the Crowd star Jeremy Piven just issued a statement, strongly denying TV personality/actress Ariane Bellamar’s public accusations that the Emmy-winning actor groped her on the set of Entourage and at the Playboy Mansion several years ago.

“I unequivocally deny the appalling allegations being peddled about me. It did not happen,” Piven said in the statement to Deadline.” It takes a great deal of courage for victims to come forward with their histories, and my hope is that the allegations about me that didn’t happen, do not detract from stories that should be heard.”

Bellamar’s Oct. 30 claims on Twitter were quickly picked up by mainstream media on Tuesday, prompting CBS, the network that airs Piven’s current series, Wisdom of the Crowd, and HBO, which carried Entourage, to issue statements.

“We are aware of the media reports and are looking into the matter,” a CBS spokesperson said Tuesday.

Said HBO, “Today, via the press reports, is the first we are hearing about Ariane Bellamar’s allegations concerning Jeremy Piven,” the premium cabler said in a statement. “Everyone at HBO and our productions is aware that zero tolerance for sexual harassment is our policy. Anyone experiencing an unsafe working environment has several avenues for making complaints that we take very seriously.”

Here is the trio of tweets by Bellamar about Piven and his alleged unwelcomed interactions with her, that triggered the response: