The director of the Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice was accused of “aggressively groping” an A-list actor in January, Deadline reported on Friday.
The site reports that the alleged incident in question happened at Hollywood agency CAA’s afterparty following the Golden Globes, where Apprentice stars Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong were nominated. Anonymous sources told the site that director Ali Abbasi was “inebriated” when he groped the unnamed actor, who, like Abbasi until recently, was also repped by CAA. The Daily Beast has reached out to Abbasi for comment.
Deadline cites sources as saying the agency wanted Abbasi to apologize to the actor, but also others “close” to Abbasi who say he was advised to avoid all contact with this person. However the incident unfolded, it led to Abbasi’s relationship with CAA and his management company Entertainment 360 being terminated. Deadline reports it is unclear who severed the ties.
In a previous statement about his change in representation, unrelated to the groping accusation, Abbasi said, “I can confirm that I’ve made the decision to move in a new direction with my career. I’m grateful for the work CAA and Entertainment 360 have done, particularly their commitment to The Apprentice, which remains a project I’m incredibly proud of. I look forward to announcing my next steps at the appropriate time.”
The Apprentice follows the rise of Trump (played by Stan) and his relationship with close friend Roy Cohn (Strong) in the 1970s and 1980s. Trump vowed to sue the “pretend filmmakers” over the film (which he called “fake”), and tried to block its release with a cease and desist for its negative depiction of the then-candidate—including a scene in which he rapes his late ex-wife Ivana Trump.
Both Stan and Strong are nominated for Oscars for their performances in the film, which was a critical, if not commercial, success.
