Blackish star Anthony Anderson is the subject of a criminal investigation amid allegations of assaulting a woman, the Los Angeles Police Department has confirmed to The Times.
“Earlier this year, there was a crime report taken involving Mr. Anthony Anderson, and there is an open investigation at this time,” LAPD Officer Mike Lopez said on Saturday. He wouldn’t reveal any more information about the case.
Anderson, who is 47 and married, denies the allegations.
“It’s unfortunate that anyone can file a police report whether it is true or false,” a spokesperson for Anderson told The Times. “The authorities have not contacted Anthony or any of his representatives about this matter. Anthony unequivocally disputes the claim.”
According to the Blast, the unidentified woman met Anderson more than a year ago when she catered an event for him. The incident occurred, she said, when they met a second time to talk about working together in the future.
Partly fueled by others who have come forward as part of the #MeToo movement, the woman filed a police report earlier this year.
Anderson has been accused of assault before. In 2004, while working on the Memphis set of the 2005 film Hustle & Flow, an extra accused him and an assistant director of raping her in her trailer. The charges eventually were dropped.
In black-ish, Anderson plays patriarch Andre Johnson, opposite Tracee Ellis Ross.
Earlier this month, Anderson was nominated for an Emmy for black-ish — his fourth — in the category of lead actor in a comedy series.
