Director Alexander Payne has denied recent sexual misconduct allegations made against him by actress Rose McGowan — and she's pushing back on "his lies."
McGowan has accused Payne, the Academy Award-winning writer and director behind films like Sideways and Election, of statutory rape and of showing her a "a soft-core porn movie [he] directed for Showtime under a different name" at his apartment when she was 15. On Friday, Payne denied her allegations, calling them "simply untrue" in a Deadline op-ed, writing that what she describes "would have been impossible" because "I had never directed anything professionally" at that time and have also never "directed under any name other than my own" or directed anything for Showtime.
Payne additionally said that while he and McGowan met years later and "went out on a couple of dates," their "paths never crossed" at the time of the alleged incident, and she's "mistaken" about when they met.
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Asked for comment about Payne's denial on Friday, McGowan told Variety, "'F--- him and his lies' is my comment." She also said she "told Payne to acknowledge and apologize" and that she "will now make it a mission to expose him," adding, "I said I didn't want to destroy, now I do."
The actress, who previously came forward with an allegation of rape against Harvey Weinstein, also told Variety that "men like Predator Payne, who profited from working with Weinstein, must be stopped from not only assaulting, but must also be prevented from infecting the masses with their propaganda." Payne's spokesperson told Variety he had "no further comment regarding Rose McGowan's false allegations."
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