Kevin Connolly denies sexual assault claims made by former costume designer
Per Deadline, Entourage alum Kevin Connelly is denying an accusation of sexual assault made by assistant costume designer Gracie Cox. The two worked together on his feature directorial debut, The Gardener Of Eden. Earlier today, The Daily Beast reported on Cox’s claims, which detail an alleged assault that occurred during the film’s wrap party in 2005. In the report, Cox states that Connelly led her to a deserted VIP area and assaulted her while the party progressed. The former assistant costume designer immediately told the film’s leading costume designer Amy Westcott (who also worked on Entourage with Connolly) about the assault, who then confronted Connolly that night. Westcott confirmed Cox’s account to The Daily Beast.
Connolly has responded to Cox’s allegations with a lengthy statement, claiming that the “encounter” was unprofessional, but mutual. Read the full statement from Connolly’s spokesperson below:
Kevin strongly supports victims of sexual assault and believes their claims should always be heard. As someone who has worked in this industry for four decades, he has treated people with nothing but respect and has maintained a stellar reputation. Therefore, he was completely shocked to learn of the allegations made by Gracie Cox from a wrap party in 2005. The incident with Ms. Cox was consensual, and he categorically denies any claim that it was assault. When they returned to the wrap party, Gracie’s boss, Amy Westcott, learned of what occurred and expressed her disappointment to both. Gracie shared with Kevin that she was embarrassed after getting in trouble with Amy, the head of the costume department. According to IMDB, it doesn’t appear that Gracie and Amy worked together on a project since then. Amy and Kevin continued to work together for two more years on Entourage, and a few years later Amy recommended her assistant to work with Kevin on another job. Kevin completely understands Amy’s displeasure with the consensual act that transpired between Kevin and Gracie 15 years ago, after production had wrapped and they were no longer working together on the movie. Kevin acknowledges the lack of professionalism on his part, but he adamantly denies that it was anything other than a mutual consensual encounter.
The Daily Beast mentions that Cox spoke to Buzzfeed about the allegations back in 2017. A Buzzfeed reporter confirmed that Cox’s story remains consistent with what she told them three years ago, but at the time they agreed to hold onto the story until they could locate other accusers. Due to “organizational shifts,” the investigation was sidelined.