--- description: Ben Affleck on Wednesday apologized to Hilarie Burton after the actress claimed Affleck groped her on television years ago. title: Ben Affleck Says He's Sorry for Groping Hilarie Burton image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteefa52a669be26b3/6988be63196cf43b8703f3a9/ben-affleck.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ben Affleck Says He's Sorry for Groping Actor Hilarie Burton  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 11, 2017 6:53 PM CUT  Ben Affleck attends the premiere of "Live by Night" at the Cinema UGC Normandie in Paris on Jan. 16, 2017. Ben Affleck attends the premiere of "Live by Night" at the Cinema UGC Normandie in Paris on Jan. 16, 2017.Alain Jocard—AFP/Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 11, 2017 6:53 PM CUT Ben Affleck on Wednesday apologized to Hilarie Burton after the actor claimed Affleck groped her on television years ago when she was hosting MTV’s _TRL_. “I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize,” Affleck said in [a Twitter post](https://twitter.com/BenAffleck/status/918166049501208576 "undefined"). Burton spoke out about the encounter on Tuesday after [Affleck had condemned Harvey Weinstein](http://time.com/4976248/ben-affleck-harvey-weinstein/ "undefined"). “I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over the decades,” Affleck said said in a statement about Weinstein on Tuesday. Weinstein, a longtime Hollywood movie mogul, is facing [a growing number of allegations of sexual assault](http://time.com/4976003/harvey-weinstein-gwyneth-paltrow-angelina-jolie/ "undefined") and [in some cases even rape](http://time.com/4976134/harvey-weinstein-new-yorker/ "undefined"). A spokesperson this week said Weinstein denies “any allegations of non-consensual sex.” “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it,” Weinstein, who [has been fired from his company](http://time.com/4974058/harvey-weinstein-sexual-abuse-allegations-fired/ "undefined"), said in [the explosive New York _Times_ report](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") that opened the floodgates last week. > [](https://twitter.com/BenAffleck/status/918166049501208576) After Affleck’s initial statement, a Twitter user quickly accused him of hypocrisy by recalling a 2003 interview on _TRL_ between Affleck and Burton, in which Affleck goes to wrap one arm around Burton for a hug and apparently grabs her breast. “Everyone forgot though,” the female Twitter user wrote. In response, Burton tweeted that she “didn’t forget” and that she “was a kid” at the time. “I had to laugh back then so I wouldn’t cry,” Burton later tweeted, along with a _TRL_ [video compilation](https://vimeo.com/116202472 "undefined") of uncensored moments. Among the clips were Affleck asking Burton if she was 19, and a separate interview in which Burton tells the camera her left breast was grabbed. > [](https://twitter.com/HilarieBurton/status/917927823674953728) Burton hosted the popular music video show before landing a role on _One Tree Hill_ in the early 2000s. Burton, Affleck and MTV did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4978214/ben-affleck-hilarie-burton-trl-groping/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4978214/ben-affleck-hilarie-burton-trl-groping/"},"headline":"Ben Affleck Says He's Sorry for Groping Actor Hilarie Burton","datePublished":"2017-10-11T18:53:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:18:33.988Z","description":"\"I acted inappropriately\"","url":"https://time.com/4978214/ben-affleck-hilarie-burton-trl-groping/","keywords":["celebrities","Television","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteefa52a669be26b3/6988be63196cf43b8703f3a9/ben-affleck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteefa52a669be26b3/6988be63196cf43b8703f3a9/ben-affleck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FRANCE-US-CINEMA","caption":"FRANCE-US-CINEMA","creditText":"Alain Jocard—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4978214/ben-affleck-hilarie-burton-trl-groping/","name":"Ben Affleck Says He's Sorry for Groping Actor Hilarie Burton"}}]}] ```