Ben Affleck Apologizes for "Acting Inappropriately" Towards Hilarie Burton

Burton accused Affleck of groping her on TRL in 2003.

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Ben Affleck has apologized for "acting inappropriately" towards actress Hilarie Burton in 2003. Burton posted a video on Twitter yesterday resurfacing the incident, which took place during Affleck's appearance on MTV's Total Request Live, which Burton was hosting at the time. Burton resurfaced her allegation via Twitter yesterday, shortly after Affleck released a statement condemning Harvey Weinstein in the wake of his ongoing sexual harassment scandal.

A number of Twitter users responded negatively to Affleck's statement–including actress Rose McGowan–and one user brought up the TRL incident, writing; "He also grabbed Hilarie Burton's breasts on TRL once. Everyone forgot though." Burton replied, confirming that the incident took place: "I didn't forget."

"I had to laugh back then so I wouldn't cry," Burton wrote in a later tweet. On Wednesday afternoon, Affleck released his own tweet in which he acknowledged the incident and apologized.

Emma Dibdin
Emma Dibdin

Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.