Actor Michael Pitt has been accused of sexually assaulting an ex-girlfriend and attacking her with a block of concrete.
Pitt, best known for starring in Dawson’s Creek and Boardwalk Empire, was arrested in New York City on Friday night on two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and other related charges, per the New York Post.
The 44-year-old was charged over four domestic incidents that allegedly took place at his home in Bushwick between April 2020 and August 2021.
Pitt first “forcibly fondled” his former girlfriend and, several months later, sexually assaulted her and hit her with a wooden block, prosecutors alleged.
He is also accused of attacking her with a cinderblock - a cement block with a hollow interior - in June 2021 and strangling her in August 2021.
The TV star - who played Jimmy Darmody in the HBO hit drama Boardwalk Empire - has pleaded not guilty to all charges at Brooklyn Supreme Court and posted bail, which was set at $100,000.
The formal charges are first-degree criminal sex act, third-degree criminal sex act, two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of second-degree attempted assault, and second-degree strangulation.
Pitt’s lawyer told TMZ: “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.”
He is next due in court on June 17.
Pitt - who played Henry Parker in Dawson’s Creek from 1999 to 2000 - has faced legal troubles in the past.
He was arrested in July 2022 for assault and petty larceny after allegedly taking a man’s phone out of his hand and repeatedly punching him in the head.
Two months later, he was taken into police custody after it was reported that a man was shouting in the street in New York and later throwing items at people from a building rooftop.
The Hedwig and the Angry Inch star was restrained on a stretcher at the scene but was not charged after being deemed “emotionally disturbed”.
It was reported that he was taken to a local hospital.
