George Takei had an out-of-this-world explanation for why so many people were talking about the sexual assault claim against him.
In a now-deleted tweet, the “Star Trek” actor blamed Russian bots for spreading the story after Scott Brunton, an ex-model and actor, accused Takei of groping him in his Los Angeles condo in 1981.
The tweet, credited to SecuringDemocracy.org, showed Russian bot activity over the last 48 hours.
“Takei” had increased in popularity almost 20,000 percent and “George Takei” had jumped by more than 15,000 percent.
“It’s clear they want to cow me into silence, but do not fear, friends. I won’t succumb to that,” Takei wrote.
“By way of background, when I criticized Putin’s anti-LGBT policies publicly, Russian bots attacked my FB page relentlessly, and we had to develop special security measures and ban all traffic from within the Russian Federation and the Ukraine. I am accustomed to their practices.”
Brunton told the Hollywood Reporter that he became friends with Takei when he was 23 and the actor was in his mid-40s.
The two met for dinner one night and then went back to Takei’s condo where Brunton had two drinks and began to feel dizzy.
“I thought I was going to pass out. I said I need to sit down and he said sit over here and he had the giant yellow beanbag chair,” said Brunton, who said that he believes he passed out for a few minutes.
“The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear.”
Takei denied the allegations.
“I want to assure you all that I am as shocked and bewildered at these claims as you must feel reading them,” he tweeted Saturday.
“The events he describes back in the 1980s simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now. I have wracked my brain to ask if I remember Mr. Brunton, and I cannot say I do.”
He also called it a “he said/he said situation” that took place almost 40 years ago.