WASHINGTON (AP) A television actress has accused former President George H.W. Bush of touching her from behind while she was posing for a photo alongside him and telling her a dirty joke.
People magazine reports Heather Lind said in a now-deleted Instagram post that the incident took place while she was posing for a photo with Bush during a promotional tour for her AMC series TURN: Washingtons Spies. Lind appears alongside the 93-year-old Bush, whos seated in a wheelchair, in a photo together at a Houston screening of the series in 2014.
Lind posted a photo to Instagram of the former president shaking hands with other former U.S. presidents at a concert Bush's presidential foundation hosted in College Station, Texas, on Saturday to raise money for hurricane relief and described her own experience with the elder Bush.
I found it disturbing because I recognize the respect ex-presidents are given for having served. And I feel pride and reverence toward many of the men in the photo. But when I got the chance to meet George H. W. Bush four years ago to promote a historical television show I was working on, he sexually assaulted me while I was posing for a similar photo," wrote Lind in a since-deleted Instagram post.
He didnt shake my hand. He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke. And then, all the while being photographed, touched me again. Barbara rolled her eyes as if to say not again. His security guard told me I shouldnt have stood next to him for the photo, wrote Lind.
Bush spokesman Jim McGrath tells The Associated Press in a statement: President Bush would never under any circumstance intentionally cause anyone distress, and he most sincerely apologizes if his attempt at humor offended Ms. Lind.
The 93-year-old former president, who has a Parkinsons-like disease and other ailments, uses a wheelchair and has difficulty speaking.