Michael Pitt was arrested in New York last week and accused of sexual abuse in connection with incidents dating back to 2020 and 2021, per multiple reports. The actor, known for playing Jimmy Darmody on two seasons of Boardwalk Empire, has since been released on bail, with his legal team criticizing the allegations against him as “baseless.”
When was Michael Pitt arrested?
Per reports, Pitt, whose filmography also includes Ghost in the Shell and Dawson’s Creek, was arrested on Friday. Complex has reached out to local police for comment, as well as to the Brooklyn DA's office.
What has Michael Pitt been accused of?
As first reported by the New York Post, Pitt’s charges include first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree strangulation. The alleged incidents, including accusations of the actor having hit his former girlfriend with a plank and a cinderblock, are said to have occurred between April 2020 and August 2021. Pitt is also accused of forcibly fondling and sexually assaulting the woman.
How has Michael Pitt responded to the allegations?
Pitt has pleaded not guilty. While the actor has not directly addressed the allegations on social media or otherwise, Jason Goldman, an attorney for the actor, said in a statement to Complex on Wednesday that the relationship between his client and the accuser was “completely consensual.” Goldman also predicted an eventual dismissal of the case.
“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,” Goldman told Complex. “In reality, this baseless claim is suspiciously raised some four or five years after the alleged incident, from a time when the two parties were in a completely consensual and voluntary relationship. This case will be dismissed."