Star criticised for knee-touching on TV show

BRITISH actress Claire Foy squirmed uncomfortably as Hollywood star Adam Sandler repeatedly touched her leg during a TV chat show.

The married father-of-two came under fire on social media after resting his hand on Foy’s knee during Friday night’s Graham Norton Show on BBC One.

Despite Foy, 33, brushing his hand away, the Billy Madison-star touched her again, leaving the actress looking embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, who was sat next to the duo and a vocal critic of “endemic” sexual harassment in Hollywood, appeared bemused by Sandler’s actions.

One viewer said: “Adam Sandler touching Claire Foy’s knee for no reason, she puts his hand back, he then does it again, she looked rightly ****** off.”

Another wrote: “Claire Foy replacing Adam Sandler’s hand on to his own knee rather than hers, was the perfect ‘ha ha don’t touch me again’ move.”

A spokesman for the actor insisted it was a “friendly gesture”. And Claire Foy last night said she was not offended by Adam Sandler touching her leg.

A spokeswoman for Foy said: “We don’t believe anything was intended by Adam’s gesture. It has caused no offence to Claire.”

The latest storm comes after Sopranos star Annabella Sciorra claimed she was “violently raped” by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in the early 1990s. Sciorra, 57, said Weinstein “shoved” her onto her bed after forcing his way into her New York apartment. She alleged they had non-consensual sex.

She said: “I struggled, but I had very little strength left in me. Like most of these women, I was so ashamed of what happened. And I fought. I fought. But still I was like, Why did I open that door?... I felt disgusting.”

Sciorra alleged her career began to suffer after the incident.

She added: “I just kept getting this pushback of ‘We heard you were difficult. We heard this or that’. I think that was the Harvey machine.”

Police in London and New York have opened investigations into Weinstein. He has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.