James Van Der Beek reveals sexual harassment: 'I've had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men'

Former Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek is joining Terry Crews in admitting he has experienced sexual harassment as a man in Hollywood.

Van Der Beek added his voice to the chorus of men and women condemning disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, in the wake of numerous sexual misconduct allegations. “What Weinstein is being accused of is criminal. What he’s admitted to is unacceptable — in any industry. I applaud everybody speaking out,” Van Der Beek wrote on Twitter before revealing his own experience with sexual harassment.

“I’ve had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, I’ve had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger,” he wrote. “I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle. There’s a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome.”

See his tweets below.

This week, in the wake of the Weinstein scandal, Crews also revealed via Twitter that he was groped in the past by an unnamed Hollywood executive. “This whole thing with Harvey Weinstein is giving me PTSD,” Crews wrote before explaining he was targeted last year by a “high-level Hollywood executive” who “groped my privates.”

“I understand and empathize with those who have remained silent. But Harvey Weinstein is not the only perpetrator,” Crews wrote. “Hollywood is not the only business [where] this happens, and to the casualties of this behavior — you are not alone. Hopefully, me coming forward with my story will deter a predator and encourage someone who feels hopeless.”

Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd, Rosanna Arquette, Cara Delevingne, and more. In a statement to The New Yorker, which detailed numerous allegations — including claims made by actress and filmmaker Asia Argento that Weinstein raped her by forcibly performing oral sex on her — the producer “unequivocally denied” allegations of non-consensual sex. The statement, released by his representative, continued, “Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. Mr. Weinstein obviously can’t speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual. Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.”