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Michael Pitt, the actor best known for his roles in Dawson’s Creek and Boardwalk Empire, was arrested last week and charged with sexual abuse and assault in New York City.
Pitt was arrested Friday and arraigned on the charges in Brooklyn Supreme Court. He’s facing eight counts total, including two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, assault with a blunt object, and strangulation.
According to online court records, Pitt pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him and was released on $15,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 17.
Jason Goldman, a lawyer for Pitt, told Rolling Stone, “Unfortunately, we live in a world where somebody like Mr. Pitt — an accomplished professional who would never so much as contemplate these crimes — can be arrested on the uncorroborated word of an unhinged individual. In reality, this baseless claim is suspiciously raised some four or five years after the alleged incident, at a time when the two parties were in a completely consensual and voluntary relationship. This case will be dismissed.”
According to court documents obtained by the New York Post — which was the first to report on Pitt’s arrest — the charges against the actor stem from four alleged incidents involving an ex-girlfriend that occurred between April 2020 and August 2021. Pitt is accused of forcibly groping his ex on one occasion, and sexually assaulting her and hitting her with a wooden plank on another. Prosecutors also alleged that Pitt assaulted his ex with a cinderblock in June 2021 and strangled her in August of that year.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
Pitt was previously arrested in July 2022 for assault and petty larceny after allegedly hitting a man several times and taking his phone. He was hospitalized a few months later after being accused of throwing items at people in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. He was not charged with a crime in that instance as the police determined that he was emotionally disturbed.
