One month after Chris D’Elia denied multiple allegations of sexual misconduct made against him, four women have come forward to accuse his close friend and fellow comedian Bryan Callen of engaging in similar behavior.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday, July 31, that the claims date back to 1999, when the Goldbergs star, 53, allegedly raped Katherine Fiore Tigerman. The actress told the newspaper that her father, actor Bill Fiore, gave Callen one of his first jobs in a New York City theater production, and she became friends with him years later when they ran into each other in L.A.
Tigerman claimed that Callen forcibly raped her as she cried and begged him to stop in his bedroom after a night out. Later that evening, she called her best friend and her then-boyfriend, both of whom corroborated her account with the Times. She later told her now-husband, Gabriel Tigerman, and fellow actress Jenny Wade. Tigerman said she did not go to the police because the thought of a rape kit felt physically invasive.
Ten years later, in 2009, the actor met an American Apparel employee named Rachel Green, who claimed to the paper that he emerged from the fitting room wearing only boxer briefs numerous times. He allegedly returned to the store the next day and requested Green’s help again while trying on a Speedo.
“It was one of those tight gross little things,” she recalled to the Times. “He ran out of the fitting room to grab something, so I went in to get the clothes he’d already tried on. And then he comes in, pushes me against the wall, closes the curtains and starts kissing my neck as he asks me if I’m going to get in trouble.”
Green said she managed to push Callen away and ran downstairs to immediately tell her coworkers what had happened.
Comedian Tiffany King, meanwhile, alleged in the report that the MADtv alum asked her for a “b–wjob” in a car in 2017 after having dinner together. She told the Times that after she said no, he offered her money, which she also rejected before driving home in tears.
The fourth woman, Claire Ganshert, met Callen while working as a barista in NYC in 2012. She said they got to know each other and began a sexual relationship, which ended in 2016. She was not aware that he was married to Amanda Humphrey at the time. (Humphrey filed for divorce in February.)
“I was just a wide-eyed girl starting out in the industry when he swooped in,” Ganshert told the Times. “There were these moments that were so intense, where it felt like he was really seeing me for my sexuality and my mouth and my body. Now, I see that for what it was. … I am not a victim but I’m standing up for that 23-year-old girl by saying that a 45-year-old man should have known better.”
Callen vehemently denied all of the allegations in a statement to the newspaper: “Let me be very clear: I have never raped, forced myself upon any woman nor offered to trade stage time for sex. EVER. I know the truth. And I can only hold my head up high, remain true to myself, my family, my audience and know that I will not allow the cancel culture to subvert what I know and as importantly, what they know, is the truth.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Callen’s rep for comment.
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
