When TheWrap reported last week about a woman’s accusation that Steven Seagal raped her in 1993, we tried to get his side by reaching out to his lawyers past and present, filmmakers and distributors with whom he recently worked, and even his son. All said they didn’t know how to get in touch with Seagal, except for one attorney who did not respond to requests for comment.
The actor finally did speak out this week with “InfoWars” host Alex Jones.
“This is just a complete tragedy,” Seagal told Jones in an interview from Japan on Monday. “This isn’t just me, but hundreds of people around the world,” he said, adding that “many of those people are completely innocent.”
More than a dozen women have accused Seagal of sexual misconduct since the early 1990s. TheWrap reported last week that two women recently filed a report with the Los Angeles Police Department against the actor. Former actress Regina Simons said Seagal raped her in 1993 after she appeared as an extra in “On Deadly Ground.” Another woman, Dutch former model Faviola Dadis, told TheWrap Seagal groped her during an audition in 2002.
Some of the arguments Seagal made — including that there is a conspiracy to bring down high-profile men — have not been proven. Others are flatly wrong. Among them:
1. “People have lied and been paid to lie about me without any evidence, any proof, any witnesses and I think without any due process.”
Simons’ mom, ex-husband and ex-boyfriend all told TheWrap that Simons told them about the incident years ago. So did a bishop at her church. A therapist told TheWrap she diagnosed Simons with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which she believes was triggered by the rape.
“Due process” often begins with an accuser bringing a complaint to the police, as Simons says she has done. Police are also investigating another complaint against Seagal from 2005.
We would welcome any evidence from Seagal that anyone has been paid to lie about him.
2. Seagal said his accuser “can’t even produce a picture with me”
Simons did provide TheWrap with a picture from the audition where she says she met Seagal. We included it in our story last week. Here it is again:
3. Seagal said we contacted his “children,” adding, “to me that’s war.”
We did not contact any children. We did contact Seagal’s 42-year-old son in an effort to relay a message to Seagal that we were seeking his side of the story. We contacted actor and model Kentaro Seagal through his own IMDb page, asking if he knew how to reach his father’s representatives. Kentaro said he did not.
You can watch Seagal’s full interview below.