Names and faces

■ Star Trek actor George Takei took to Twitter on Saturday to deny he ever knew a struggling actor and model who has accused him of a 1981 sexual assault. “The events he describes back in the 1980s simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now,” the 80-year-old Takei said in a series of tweets. Scott R. Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter that he was 23 at the time, living in Hollywood and working as a waiter when he met Takei at a bar. They exchanged numbers, he said, speaking by telephone from time to time, when Takei invited Brunton to dinner, the theater and back to his condo for drinks. He said he grew dizzy and “must have passed out,” awaking to his pants around his ankles and Takei groping him. He said he extricated himself and left. The Hollywood Reporter said Friday that it spoke to four longtime friends of Brunton who said he had confided in them about Takei years ago. Also Saturday, a clip of audio surfaced from Takei’s appearance on Howard Stern’s radio show last month. While discussing sexual assault accusations against film mogul Harvey Weinstein and the audiotape of President Donald Trump boasting about grabbing women’s genitals years ago, Stern asked Takei whether he had ever grabbed a man’s genitals against his will. Takei, a staunch Trump opponent, initially was silent, then said “uh oh” and laughed. Stern asks again and Takei said, “Some people are kind of skittish, or maybe, um, uh, afraid, and you’re trying to persuade.” Stern and his co-host, Robin Quivers, persisted, asking Takei whether he ever held a job over somebody for sex, and he said no. Quivers asked if he did “this grabbing at work.” Takei said, “It was either in my home. They came to my home.”

■ Fox News has hired President Donald Trump’s former aide Sebastian Gorka as a contributor. Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity announced the hiring on his radio show last week, saying Gorka will serve as a national security strategist for the network. A Fox News spokesman confirmed his hiring. The British-American Gorka worked as a national security aide to Trump from January to August, when Gorka said he resigned from the administration. A White House official disputed that claim, saying Gorka didn’t resign but “no longer works at the White House.” Gorka is a former Breitbart News editor whose hard-line view on immigration and terrorism led to discord inside and outside the White House.

Takei

Gorka