Alexander Payne says Rose McGowan's allegations against him are "simply untrue".
Alexander Payne
The 46-year-old actress - who previously accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct - recently accused the 'Sideways' and 'The Descendants' filmmaker of sexual misconduct, as she alleged he "played a soft-core porn movie" for her during a visit to his apartment when she was just 15 years old.
She tweeted: "Alexander Payne. You sat me down & played a soft-core porn movie you directed for Showtime under a different name. I still remember your apartment in Silverlake. You are very well-endowed. You left me on a street corner afterwards. I was 15 ... I just want an acknowledgement and an apology. I do not want to destroy. This was me at 15."
But now, the 59-year-old director has insisted the allegations against him are false, as he said there was no way the pair would have crossed paths when Rose was a minor.
He wrote in a statement issued to Deadline: "Rose McGowan and I have always had very cordial interactions, and I have admired her commitment to activism and her voice in an important, historic movement. However, what she has said about me in recent social media posts is simply untrue.
"Rose is mistaken in saying we met when she was fifteen, in the late 1980s. I was a full-time film student at UCLA from 1984 until 1990, and I know that our paths never crossed. She claims that I showed her a 'soft-core porn movie' I had directed for Showtime 'under a different name.' This would have been impossible, since I had never directed anything professionally, lurid or otherwise. I have also never worked for Showtime or directed under any name other than my own."
Alexander said he first met Rose at an audition in 1991 - when the actress would have been 18 - and said he "had no reason to question how old she was", because the role she auditioned for called for "an actor who was of age".
He added: "Rose and I did meet years later, in 1991, during my first directing job, when she auditioned for a comic short I was making for a Playboy Channel series. Although she did not get the part, she left a note for me at the casting desk asking that I call her. I had no reason to question how old she was, since the role she read for required an actor who was of age. We later went out on a couple of dates and remained on friendly terms for years. While I cannot allow false statements about events twenty-nine years ago to go uncorrected, I will continue to wish only the best for Rose."
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