Comedian T.J. Miller is being accused of sexual assault by a woman he went to college with in 2001.
On Tuesday, hours after the allegations against Miller were reported, Comedy Central announced the cancelation of “The Gorburger Show”. Based on a 2012 Funny or Die series, the Miller voiced the lead character and served as executive producer on the show, which ran one season in 2017.
The actor’s accuser – who wishes to remain anonymous – claims Miller choked, punched and sexually assaulted her while they were both students at George Washington University in the early 2000s. The alleged victim says Miller assaulted her twice while they were in a brief relationship.
“He just tried a lot of things without asking me, and at no point asked me if I was alright,” she tells The Daily Beast. “He choke[d] me, and I kept staring at his face hoping he would see that I was afraid and [that he] would stop… I couldn’t say anything.”
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The woman says consensual sex with Miller took a violent turn. “We started to fool around, and very early in that, he put his hands around my throat and closed them, and I couldn’t breathe. I was genuinely terrified and completely surprised. He anally penetrated me without my consent, which I actually believe at that point I cried out… ‘No,’ and he didn’t continue to do that – but he also had a [beer] bottle with him the entire time. He used the bottle at one point to penetrate me without my consent.”
The Daily Beast corroborated the woman’s stories with former classmates who confirm she told them about the assault in 2001. She also reported the incidents to the university’s campus police who directed her to a student court proceeding. She was later told “the issue had been resolved” but did not provide her further details. Sources tell The Daily Beast Miller was subsequently “expelled after he graduated.” Miller reportedly told friends over the years that he was “wrongfully accused.”
On Tuesday, the same day the sexual assault allegations were made public, Comedy Central announced Miller’s series “The Goldburgers” was cancelled after season one. A rep for the network claims that the decision to not move forward with a second season of the show pre-dated the allegations, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Miller and wife Kate denied the accusations, releasing a lengthy statement:
“We met this woman over a decade ago while studying together in college, she attempted to break us up back then by plotting for over a year before making contradictory claims and accusations. She attempted to discredit both of our voices and use us against one another by trying to portray Kate to be a continuous abuse victim of T.J. (further efforts to hurt the two of us). She was asked to leave our university comedy group because of worrisome and disturbing behaviour, which angered her immensely, she then became fixated on our relationship, and began telling people around campus ‘I’m going to destroy them’ and ‘I’m going to ruin him.'”
“We are confident that a full consideration of accounts from and since that time will shed light and clarity on the true nature of not only this person’s character, and also on the real facts of the matter.”
“We stand together in stating this is nothing more than an unfortunate resurgence of her lies designed to wreak havoc on two happily married people in the public eye.”
“She began again to circulate rumours online once our relationship became public.”
“Sadly she is now using the current climate to bandwagon and launch these false accusations again. It is unfortunate that she is choosing this route as it undermines the important movement to make women feel safe coming forward about legitimate claims against real known predators.”
“We stand together and will not allow this person to take advantage of a serious movement toward gender equality by allowing her to use this moment to muddy the water with an unrelated personal agenda. We feel we all have an obligation now more than ever to prevent people from using reporters to spin lies into headlines, and focus instead on what is real.”
“We both champion and continue to stand up for people everywhere who have truly suffered injustice seeking to have justice brought into their lives.”
