Donald Trump might be on his way to the White House, but “Apprentice” alum Summer Zervos hopes to take him to a courthouse.
Zervos, who last year accused Trump of grabbing her breast without her consent and unwanted aggressive kissing, filed suit against the president-elect on Tuesday. He has denied her allegations.
The defamation suit alleges that Trump falsely branded Zervos (pictured above center) a liar after she made her accusations public, calling her story “totally made up nonsense.”
Zervos, who’s seeking a retraction plus unspecified damages, also characterizes Trump as a “sexual predator” in the suit.
“Ms. Zervos was ambushed by Mr. Trump on more than one occasion. Mr. Trump suddenly, and without her consent, kissed her on the mouth repeatedly, he touched her breast, and he pressed his genitals up against her,” the lawsuit reads. “Ms. Zervos never consented to any of this disgusting touching. Instead, she repeatedly expressed that he should stop his inappropriate sexual behavior, including by shoving him away from her forcefully and telling him to ‘get real.’ Mr. Trump did not care, he kept touching her anyway.”
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks responded to the lawsuit in a statement to TheWrap, saying, “More of the same from Gloria Allred. There is no truth to this absurd story.”
In October, Zervos came forward with her story, saying that she first met Trump while a candidate on Season 5 of “The Apprentice,” and contacted his office in 2007 to inquire about having lunch with him. Trump instead offered to meet her at his office.
“When I arrived he kissed me on the lips. I was surprised but felt that perhaps that was just his form of greeting,” Zervos, who’s represented by Gloria Allred — who, according to the Los Angeles Times, was a delegate for Trump’s former political rival Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention last year — said at a news conference at the time.
Zervos went on to say that Trump told her he would “love to have me work for him,” promising to get in touch when he visited Los Angeles in the near future.
When Trump arrived in Los Angeles, Zervos said, he invited her to dinner, asking her to meet him at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
After arriving at the hotel, Zervos said, she was escorted to a bungalow and sat down in the living room.
Zervos claimed that Trump “grabbed my shoulder and began kissing me again very aggressively and placed his hand on my breast … I pulled back and walked to another part of the room. He then walked up, he grabbed my hand and walked me into the bedroom. I walked out.”
“He put me in an embrace and I tried to push him away. I pushed his chest to put space between us and I said come on man, get real,” Zervos continued. “He repeated my words back to me, ‘get real’ as he began thrusting his genitals. He tried to kiss me again and with my hand still on his chest.”
Trump denied Zervos’ accusations at the time, writing on Facebook, “To be clear, I never met her at a hotel or greeted her inappropriately a decade ago. That is not who I am as a person, and it is not how I’ve conducted my life.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.