Scott Baio appeared on Good Morning America to deny allegations that he sexually abused his Charles in Charge co-star Nicole Eggert.
The actor did not offer any proof to discredit Eggert's claims, but did demand that she stop with her allegations for the sake of his family.
'Why somebody would come after me, my reputation and stop me from doing something that I love doing ... and more important than that is my wife and I have a 10-year-old daughter,' said Baio, who showed no hint of emotion during the interview.
'And my 10-year-old daughter does not need to be hearing about this from friends at school, these false allegations. Her job is not to defend me. My job is to defend my daughter. Her job is to be 10 years old and that's why this has got to stop.'
He also shared a tweet from January 2017 of Eggert responding to a fan asking where Baio was during a Charles in Charge cast reunion by writing: 'Yes - we were missing Scott!'
Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Kristy Swanson also took to Twitter to share her thoughts, writing: 'Shame on you @NicoleEggert to stab @ScottBaio honey you are driven by politics it’s SO obvious! Stop it now! You are ridiculous!'
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It wasn't me: Scott Baio appeared on Good Morning America (above) to deny the allegations being made by Nicole Eggert, who says the actor sexually abused her as a minor
All good: Baio is seen leaving the studio after he taped GMA on Wednesday morning (above)
Plea deal: The actor, 57, said that Eggert should stop making these claims for the sake of his wife and 10-year-old daughter
Allegation: The actress claimed she was just 14 when Scott Baio, then 25, 'penetrated me with his finger' (Baio and Eggert above on the show)
Scott Baio denies sexual misconduct allegations: "My 10-year-old daughter does not need to be hearing about this from friends at school - these false allegations...that's why this has got to stop." pic.twitter.com/5jdJgalA9z — Good Morning America (@GMA) January 31, 2018
Baio, who appeared on GMA alongside his lawyer, began the interview by denying that Eggert was 17 on the one occasion the two both admit to having sex.
The actor says that Eggert herself confirmed this initially in an interview with The Dirty.
Amy Robach then pushed back on Baio, stating: 'Now she says that she lied at the time to protect the show because that's what she thought she needed to do.'
Baio responded by saying: 'So I'm trying to figure out which time she's lying and which time she's not lying because the story seems to change quite a bit. And I can't keep up with her quite honestly.'
Then Robach again pressed Baio, pointing out the statement given by the founder of The Dirty, who revealed Eggert had broken down and told him all about the alleged assaults after that interview.
'What happened with you and Nicole when she was 14, 15, 16?' asked Robach.
'Absolutely nothing,' said Baio.
'And I find it interesting, Amy, that the moment that her first allegation that we had sex when she was 17 - which is not true - as soon as that was proven to be 100 percent false, she comes up with a new story where something happened once a week for years.'
Baio went on to say a weekly assault would have been impossible on the set of a sitcom, where 'there's teachers, parents, family, crew, producers' and the actor's own father
'I don't know how anybody can believe what she's saying when her first allegation of having sex when we were 17 had been proven to be 100% false and her story keeps changing,' said Baio.
'She makes up new things. And by the way, I'm not the first person she's done this to.'
Robach then went through each of Eggert's claims and Baio categorized them all as false, but offered up nothing more than a denial.
Then, Robach pointed out that people on set did say they noticed something between Eggert and the sitcom's leading man.
'Alex [Polinsky] who played Nicole's brother reportedly said he witnessed inappropriate cuddling between you and Nicole on the set and then Adam Karl who is credited with one appearance on the show tweeted he remembers her crying about you. Why do you think they're saying that? Are they lying too?', asked Robach.
'I don't know what they're saying. I have no idea. I don't know why they're saying it. I don't - there were so many people on that set,' said Baio.
'Nicole and I were friends after our only sexual encounter. She aggressively sought me out because she wanted me to be her first so that she would be good for her boyfriend, those are her words.'
Speaking out: Eggert (above) spoke with Megyn Kelly on Tuesday about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered for two years while filming Charles in Charge
Slayer: Buffy star Kristy Swanson also defended Baio, tweeting at Eggert: 'Honey you are driven by politics it’s SO obvious! Stop it now! You are ridiculous!'
Fears: Eggert said she hid the truth because she was ashamed and concerned about the damage it might do to other people who worked on Charles in Charge (Eggert on Baywatch in 1993)
The actress said the sexual abuse began when she was 14 back in 1986 on the set of Charles in Charge, the television show she worked on with Baio, who was then 25.
'He immediately took to me and befriended me and earned my trust. And then he started expressing his love for me. And talking about marriage in the future,' said Eggert on Megyn Kelly Today.
'And then I was still 14, before my 15th birthday, we were at his house in his car in his garage. And he reached over and he penetrated me with his finger. And that is when the sexual touching and abuse started after that.'
She went on to claim that these incidents 'probably happened once a week' until she was 16, along with kissing and groping that she believes the pair's co-stars on the program saw at the time.
'I had never experienced anything like that before either, so he was playing on not only my emotions but my hormones and all of those things,' said Eggert, now 46.
'And the issue with him is that he was our boss. And he was telling me, you know, 'You can't tell anybody, this is illegal, I'll go to jail. The show will be over. Everybody will be sued," you know? "You'll be out of a job, you'll ruin everybody's life.'
Eggert then added: 'It's scary. It's intimidating, especially when you're that young.'
As for the producers and other actors on set, Eggert said they had to be aware of the kissing and groping but she does not think they knew about the sexual abuse.
'There was a bit of like -- this person loves me. I trust this person. And that he cares about me and I'm safe,' said Eggert of her feelings for Baio at the time.
'And it wasn't until, you know, getting a little bit older that I started to realize this not -- this is not love.'
She said that the two did not have sexual intercourse until she was 17 and Baio was 28, and that she only told a few close friends at the time of the initial abuse.
Baio disputes this as well and says Eggert was 18, which is the legal age of consent in the state.
He provided proof of that in the form of an interview that Eggert did with The Dirty, in which she said that it was long after the show wrapped in 1990 when she and Bario had sex.
Eggert explained why she had kept this a secret for so long, and why she stressed in the past that she had never had sexual contact with Baio until she was of age.
'But my truth is I wasn't ready to tell my story and for me it was protecting the show and protecting that whole legacy that nothing happened there,' Eggert told Kelly.
'That was my delusion and that was my cover-up always. And, you know, that's not the first time I covered it up. I always lied about it.'
Now, Eggert wishes she could go back and tell her younger self to not be ashamed of what had happened, and let her know it was not her fault.
'Shame plays a weird part and a strong voice. You lie,' said Eggert.
'I didn't want anybody to look at me and think I was weak. I didn't think anybody to think, oh, victim. It's not until now that I see other people coming forward and how many women I talk to that this has happened to. It's more common than not, unfortunately.'
Baio also insisted he would not have had unsupervised access to Eggert while filming 'Charles In Charge' (Pictured, the cast of 'Charles in Charge' including Eggert, seated far right, and Baio, standing in red)
Eggert said that her interactions and conversations with these women have also helped her realize her alleges assault is not 'gross or embarrassing.'
Kelly then asked Eggert to explain why if she had endured this abuse she agreed to go on Baio's reality show back in 2007, and giving the impression that the two were friends.
'Well, the reality show was about him having therapy for womanizing. That's what people don't understand. I went on there to call him out on some of the women he mistreated on our set,' said Eggert.
'That's what that appearance was about. So, you know, yeah, I appeared on it. But it wasn't a positive oh, let's go, you know, have ice cream. It was about the women.'
She then was asked about why she denied underage relations with Baio while being interviewed by The Dirty.
'I'm good at covering up. I got really good at it. Really good at bearing it and putting it away in a box and saying, no, that's not me. That didn't happen to me,' said Eggert.
It was then revealed that Nik Richie, the founder of The Dirty who conducted that interview, had released a statement backing up Eggert's claim.
Kelly read it on air, pointing out beforehand that the two do share a manager.
'I remember the day that Nicole Eggert did the interview, and she was distraught after the interview. She was an emotional wreck. She said it was much worse than she had described on air,' read the statement.
'She said, he molested as a child and I didn't know any better.'
Kelly then asked Eggert: 'When you left that radio interview, is that true? Were you distraught? What are you feeling?'
Eggert responded by saying it was at that moment she realized she need to tell the truth and stop protecting other people,
She later spoke about the first time she had intercourse with Baio, revealing: 'It was in my house, and in my spare bedroom and he laid down a towel and it happened there.'
The bloom is off the rose: Eggert appeared alongside her lawyer Lisa Bloom (above) later in the show
Baio told a different story in a video posted to Facebook over the weekend.
'I remember her calling me and asking me to come over and coming in my house one time, and seducing me,' said Baio.
'Any normal heterosexual, red-blooded American guy, the outcome would have been the same.'
That video was posted along with what Baio claims is evidence of Eggert's deception on his Facebook account, where he wrote: 'Nicole Eggert has been claiming I had sex with her before she was 18 at least since 2013. She is provably wrong, and because we have been telling her that since last year without results, our only conclusion is that she is deliberately lying.'
Baio's evidence consisted of highlighted dates meant to show that Eggert is lying based on the comments she made to The Dirty and a large number of legal letters demanding silence from Eggert and fellow Charles in Charge castmate Alex Polinsky.
Polinsky said that he saw Baio acting affectionate with Eggert on set together on set in a tweet that was since deleted.
He also said that he was abused on set, but not by Baio.
'I don’t know what else to put out there,' said Baio in his Facebook video.
'She’s my best friend in the world, then all of a sudden I’m the bogeyman.'
Scott Baio adamantly denies a claim that he sexually abused an underage "Charles in Charge" co-star and says she seduced him when she was 18 and legally an adult.
On Tuesday, Nicole Eggert, speaking on "Megyn Kelly Today," said Baio first molested her when she was 14, and they had sexual intercourse when she was 17. The age of consent in California is 18. Baio is more than 11 years older than Eggert.
Baio said Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that "false allegations" against him have "got to stop" for the sake of his wife and 10-year-old daughter.
He said his daughter "does not need to be hearing about this from friends at school."
Baio said molestation would have been "absolutely impossible" on a set filled with teachers, relatives, crew members and producers.
During a consensual encounter when she was of legal age, Eggert told him that she wanted him to "be her first" sexual partner, Baio said.
Baio said they he remained friends after that encounter. He remembered Eggert as a "talented girl. We had a great time on the set. ... Everybody got along."
However, he added that Eggert "makes up" things, and he's "not the first person" to become a target.
He was asked about Eggert's remarks that she is exploring legal options and is considering filing a police report.
"Why would I have a concern over something I didn't do?" he said. "Rather than take your case to social media ... why not do it through the proper channels?"
Baio returned to the spotlight as an outspoken supporter of then presidential candidate Donald Trump, including speaking at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Actor Scott Baio continued to adamantly deny sexual-abuse claims made by his former co-star Nicole Eggert, in a Good Morning America interview Wednesday. He admitted to having one sexual encounter with Eggert after she turned 18—although Eggert has alleged in previous interviews that she had sexual relations with Baio at the age of 17. New allegations from Eggert claim that she was lying in prior interviews “out of shame,” and actually started having sexual relations with Baio when she was just 14 years old. Baio pointed to Eggert’s inconsistencies as evidence of lying, and said the actress is someone “who makes things up” and that parents, families, and producers were on the set and make such an incident “impossible.” Baio and Eggert both starred in the 198os series Charles in Charge.
Scott Baio, appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America today, again denied having sex with actress Nicole Eggert when his former Charles in Charge co-star was under 18 years of age. Describing the set of the 1980s sitcom as a happy, crowded place – “like a picnic everyday” – Baio repeated earlier claims made on Facebook Live that he was never alone with his younger castmate and that their only sexual encounter occurred after production ended, when Eggert was 18 years old.
See the GMA interview below.
Baio, making his early morning appearance on the ABC show the day after Eggert took her case to NBC’s Megyn Kelly Today, said he could prove Eggert was lying, and offered up as evidence a past radio interview in which Eggert indicated that her relations with Baio occurred when she was 18.
When GMA host Amy Robach said that Eggert now claims she lied on the radio program in order to “protect” the Charles in Charge show, Baio said, “So I’m trying to figure out which time she’s lying and which time she’s not lying because the story seems to change quite a bit. I can’t keep up with it quite honestly.”
Robach then quoted the radio interviewer Nik Richie (with whom, as GMA pointed out, Eggert shares a manager) saying “Nicole was distraught after the interview. She told me it was much worse than she described on air. She said ‘he molested me as a child and I didn’t know any better.’ I can vividly remember that statement, it’s not one you would forget.”
Baio challenged the accusations by describing a busy Charles in Charge set bustling with people. “How any of this could have happened is absolutely impossible. I don’t know how anybody can believe what she’s saying when her first allegation when were were 17 had been proven 100% false. And by the way I’m not the first person she’s done this to.”
Baio insisted that he was never alone with her on set unless they were doing a scene, or perhaps elsewhere on the studio lot. As for Eggert’s claim that the two had sex in Baio’s garage, Baio laughed and said, “I have no idea what that means. No idea.”
Robach then read statements from two other actors who worked on Charles in Charge, including Alex Polinsky (Robach called him Adam Polinsky), who played the brother of Eggert’s character and who says he saw Baio and Eggert engage in “inappropriate cuddling on the set”, and Adam Carl, who made one guest appearance on the show and says he witnessed Eggert “crying” about Baio.
“I don’t know what they’re saying, I have no idea, I don’t know why they’re saying it, there were so many people on that set,” Baio said, then repeated his Facebook Live story that the 18-year-old Eggert had sought Baio out in order to lose her virginity.
Asked whether he’s now concerned that Eggert might take his recent advice and go to the police if she has a case, Baio said, “No, why would I have concerns about something I didn’t do?”
“My job is to defend my daughter,” Baio said. “Her job is to be 10 years old, and that’s why this has got to stop.”
Eggert first brought her accusations to Twitter, after she commented on a tweet referring to Baio’s support of Donald Trump: “Ask [Scott Baio] what happened in his garage at his house when I was a minor. Creep.” This triggered a series of tweets where she claims she was molested by him from ages 14 to 17 and went into details about the alleged assaults.
