According to People, Larry King issued a statement Monday denying groping accusations leveled at him by Terry Richard, former wife of late actor and singer Eddie Fisher, in her recent DailyMailTV interview. According to Richard, one incident took place in 2005, and involved the journalist allegedly sliding his hand down her backless dress while the pair posed for a photo at the Annual RBI Hall of Fame Dinner, a baseball awards show in Los Angeles, which Richard attended as a correspondent for the Tolucan Times. Says Richard, “Larry put his hand behind me on my back and as the photographer was taking our picture, Larry slid his hand down from the middle of my back to putting his hand inside of my dress and it ended up with about three or four of his fingers in the crack of my ass, resting in the crack of my ass,†she claims.
The following year at a different baseball event, Richard says King allegedly pulled a similar stunt during a photo op, grabbing her butt hard enough to leave a bruise. “Larry groped me in front of everyone where I couldn’t say anything,†she says. “He gets a thrill doing this in front of the camera, knowing I couldn’t do anything.â€
In his statement issued to People, however, the former Larry King Live host “flatly and unequivocally denies these claims†and “intends to file suit and prove that they’re utterly false.†In a separate statement reportedly issued to the Daily Mail, King’s attorney also refuted Richard’s claims. “That assertion is entirely and unequivocally false and defamatory,†the letter said in part. “Mr. King did no such thing then or ever.â€