Arnold Schwarzenegger tacitly admits to groping women
In the new Netflix documentary series Arnold, Schwarzenegger says his actions were "bullshit:" "Forget all the excuses, it was wrong."
Aux News Arnold Schwarzenegger
Nearly 20 years after The Los Angeles Times first published a report detailing allegations that Arnold Schwarzenegger had groped and humiliated women, the actor and former governor of California has tacitly admitted wrongdoing.
In a new three-part Netflix documentary series, Arnold, Schwarzenegger looks back on his response to the allegations released to the public in October 2003. The LA Times’ report included testimony from six women, four of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. Between them, the women detailed multiple incidents where Schwarzenegger allegedly touched them in a sexual manner without receiving their consent.
At the time, Schwarzenegger decried most of the article as “not true,” but apologized for having “behaved badly sometimes.” During an interview with ABC Evening News’ Peter Jennings in 2004, Schwarzenegger insisted he couldn’t “remember what was happening 20 years ago and 15 years ago.”
“My reaction in the beginning, I was kind of…defensive,” Schwarzenegger says today in the documentary. Now, his tune has changed: “I can look at it and kind of say, it doesn’t really matter what time it is. If it’s the Muscle Beach days of 40 years ago, or today, that this was wrong. It was bullshit. Forget all the excuses, it was wrong.”
LA Times reporter Carla Hall, who says the report came together in barely six weeks from the time Schwarzenegger announced his run for governor, recalls being “surprised” that the allegations “didn’t have more of an effect on the election.”
“I thought that more people would be offended themselves,” Hall says in the documentary. Despite the report, Schwarzenegger ended up replacing incumbent California governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, for the role after a recall vote. Schwarzenegger was sworn into office on November 13, 2003. How alarmingly prescient!
All three installments of Arnold are available to stream on Netflix now.
11 Comments
Why wasn’t there more outrage? Before #metoo there was likely more of a “what do you expect?” regarding Hollywood and sexual abuse. You know, when you’re a star they just let you. Not to mention you know women make all this shit up for the bucks. Because abuse allegations equal buckets of cash. s
There were also already lots of pictures and video of him standing around in his underwear flexing while people cheered and hollered prior to the allegations coming out. Not to mention the Conan films.
Despite the report, Schwarzenegger beat out incumbent California governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, for the role.Not quite. Davis was recalled and Arnold won a separate vote to replace him (both held the same day).
It’d be cool if they’d at least notate when they’ve updated an article to correct an error.
To be fair, California needed an action hero to go beat up Enron in those days. (It’s a long story.)
True. Also a bit of a circus with candidates including Gary Coleman, Arianna Huffington etc. But entertaining as well in some weird way.
Also:
All three installments of Arnold are available to stream on Netflix now
If by now, you mean Wednesday, two days from now, then yes.
Fact checking, what’s that? #forevergreyed
Hollywood career long established to the point of semi-retirement and no more elections to win. May as well come semi-clean. No wait, excuse me, he’s an elderly man looking back on his life with hard-earned wisdom, now gently admonishing the foolishness of his youth. When I was thirty fiiiiiiive…
Does this mean all his movies are never to be watched again and nobody is allowed to mention his existence ever again? /S? I am glad he is admitting he was in the wrong all these years later. Things were just gross in the 70’s and 80’s but it was just how men of that time acted even if everyone knew it was wrong.
Hmm… I of course haven’t seen the documentary (and don’t really care to when it does come out), so I can’t speak to how it’s presented, but it seems to me if he’s outright addressing it, that makes it by definition not “tacit”? Am I missing something?
The Schwarzenegger quote in this article never explicitly says what “it” is, so it’s not clear what exactly he did that he now acknowledges to be wrong.