Hotelier Andre Balazs groped Jason Bateman’s wife at his luxury London bolthole The Chiltern Firehouse, it has been claimed.
In an article published by The New York Times on Thursday, Bateman and his wife Amanda Anka confirmed the incident and described it as ‘vile’.
According to them and others who were there, Balazs committed the alleged assault after persuading Anka to climb up a fireman’s ladder to reach a suite which had an impressive view of London.
Jason Bateman and his wife Amanda Anka are pictured leaving London’s Chiltern Firehouse on November 12, 2014, after its star manager Andre Balazs allegedly groped her. The couple wore strained smiles and Anka’s eyes looked as though she had been crying
Balazs, 60, has been accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women
She was wearing a red leather dress at the time and had been hesitant but he insisted, they said.
As she climbed up it, he stuck his hand up it and ‘grabbed her crotch’, the Times claimed.
Shocked, she told her husband what happened and he confronted the hotelier, spitting gum in his face and then leaving promptly.
It happened hours after the London premiere of Horrible Bosses 2 and Jennifer Anniston, Bateman’s co-star, was present in the hotel at the time.
In their statement, a spokesman for the couple said: ‘On behalf of Jason Bateman and Amanda Anka, we can confirm that the account of André Balazs’s outrageous and vile behavior on that night in London is factual.
‘His actions were dealt with at the time.’
Balazs has not commented on the allegations.
Among those who confirmed the assault to the Times was Charlie Day’s wife who said: ‘I witnessed behavior by André Balazs that was inappropriate and offensive.’
Balazs created The Standard Hotel brand and is also credited with the huge popularity of Chateau Marmont.
Friends who were there say Balazs persuaded Anka (seen leaving the hotel with red eyes) to climb the ladder in her short leather dress then stuck his hand on her crotch
Bateman spat in the hotelier’s face and then stormed out with his wife. The pair appear strained in these photographs taken on the night in question as they exited the luxury hotel