New York Post

Hotelier Balazs‘ groped’ star’s wife

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CELEBRITY hotelier André Balazs has been accused of groping multiple women — including the wife of Jason Bateman in front of Jennifer Aniston and others — according to a new report. Bateman and his wife, actress Amanda Anka, were attending a party at Balazs’ hip hotel Chiltern Firehouse in London, in November 2014, when the hotelier took the group on a tour of the property, reports The Post’s Danika Fears.

During the tour, the guests — which also included Bateman’s “Horrible Bosses 2” co-stars Aniston and Jason Sudeikis — had to climb a firehouse-style ladder to get to an upstairs room. As Anka, who was wearing a leather dress, climbed up, Balazs — a part owner of top hotels including the Mercer in New York and LA’s Chateau Marmont, who runs Sunset Beach in the Hamptons — put his hand under her skirt and grabbed her crotch, the New York Times reported. Bateman spit gum in Balazs’ face, and the couple quickly left.

“I witnessed behavior by Balazs that was inappropri­ate and offensive,” said Mary Elizabeth

Ellis, the wife of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelph­ia” actor Charlie Day. “We can confirm that the account of Balazs’ outrageous and vile behavior on that night in London is factual,” Bateman and Anka said in a statement. “His actions were dealt with at the time.” A Balazs former employee, who identified herself as Sarah, claimed she was also groped by the hotel hotshot while working at the Chateau Marmont. In 1991, Balazs took Sarah out to dinner, and afterward they stopped by a mud-wrestling club, where he allegedly grabbed her by the arm, pushed her against a wall and covered her mouth with his. He put his hand down her pants and stuck his fingers in her vagina, she said. “I just froze,” Sarah said.

A 26-year-old media exec, who declined to be named, also said Balazs grabbed her crotch as she was walking to the bathroom at a party during New York Fashion Week in 2013. A rep for Balazs — who recently dated Uma

Thurman and saw Chelsea Handler for two years — didn’t respond for comment.

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