Bryan Callen, a comedian and actor on ABC’s The Goldbergs, is being accused by four women of sexual assault and sexual misconduct. The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that the claims date back to 1991 and occurred as recently as 2017. Callen, 53, denies the allegations.
The Times reports that in 1991, Callen allegedly raped actress Katherine Fiore Tigerman. She told the outlet her father, actor Bill Fiore, gave Callen a job in a New York City theater production and that she and Callen became friends years later when they ran into each other in Los Angeles. Tigerman claimed Callen forcibly raped her as she cried and begged him to stop in his bedroom after a night out. She called her best friend and her then-boyfriend, both of whom corroborated her account. She later told her now-husband and fellow actress Jenny Wade. Tigerman said she did not go to the police because the thought of a rape kit seemed physically invasive.
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Ten years later, in 2009, Callen reportedly met an American Apparel employee named Rachel Green who claimed that he emerged from the fitting room wearing just boxer briefs numerous times. He allegedly returned to the store the next day and requested Green’s help while trying on a Speedo.
“It was one of those tight gross little things,” she told the Times. “He ran out of the fitting room to grab something, so I went in to get the clothes he’d already tried on. And then he comes in, pushes me against the wall, closes the curtains and starts kissing my neck as he asks me if I’m going to get in trouble.” Green said she pushed him away, ran downstairs and immediately told her coworkers what had happened.
Another instance occurred in 2017 when Callen asked comedian Tiffany King for a “b—job” in a car after having dinner together. She told the Times that after she said no, he offered her money, which she also rejected before driving home in tears.
The fourth woman, Claire Ganshert, met Callen while working as a barista in New York City in 2012. She said they began a sexual relationship but ended things in 2016; she was not aware that he was married to Amanda Humphrey at the time. Humphrey filed for divorce in February.
“I was just a wide-eyed girl starting out in the industry when he swooped in,” Ganshert told the Times. “There were these moments that were so intense, where it felt like he was really seeing me for my sexuality and my mouth and my body. Now, I see that for what it was. … I am not a victim but I’m standing up for that 23-year-old girl by saying that a 45-year-old man should have known better.”
In a statement to the Times, Callen vehemently denied the allegations. “Let “I was just a wide-eyed girl starting out in the industry when he swooped in,” Ganshert told the Times. “There were these moments that were so intense, where it felt like he was really seeing me for my sexuality and my mouth and my body. Now, I see that for what it was. … I am not a victim but I’m standing up for that 23-year-old girl by saying that a 45-year-old man should have known better.”
The allegations come weeks after Callen’s close friend, collaborator and fellow comedian Chris D’Elia was accused of sexual misconduct and harassment, and in some cases involving minors. D’Elia also denied the allegations against him and said he never knowingly had sexual contact with anyone underage.
