Tuesday, April 06, 2004
DAILY MAIL (London) April 5, 2004: TV presenter sues Arnie for libel over 'sex pest' incident
A BRITISH television presenter who alleges she was molested by Arnold Schwarzenegger is to sue him for libel over his claim that she encouraged the incident.
Anna Richardson claimed the 56-year- old Terminator star touched her breast as she tried to interview him at the Dorchester Hotel in December 2000 about his film The Sixth Day for her London Weekend Television show Big Screen.
A spokesman for Schwarzenegger said she encouraged the behaviour.
Vicar's daughter Miss Richardson, who was 29 at the time, was furious about the response and is now claiming it damaged her reputation as a professional interviewer by presenting her as someone who uses sex as part of her interview technique.
She is expected to file a Pounds 100,000 libel suit later this week, which could cost the actor in excess of Pounds 1million in legal fees.
Miss Richardson has reportedly enlisted libel lawyer Graham Atkins, who has recently had successes on behalf of Kate Beckinsale and Cat Deeley in defamation cases.
The re-emergence of the allegations came just days after Schwarzenegger admitted taking a training course about steering clear of sexual harassment claims.
His campaign to become Governor of California was almost derailed by allegations that he had groped and molested 16 women.
The claims ranged from grabbing a woman's breast in a gym in 1975 to spanking a woman in a West Los Angeles sound studio 15 years later.
Schwarzenegger, married to Maria Shriver for 17 years, gave various responses to the accusations, including a confession that he had 'behaved badly' towards women in the past.
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