Bette Midler says Geraldo Rivera drugged and 'groped' her in the 1970s, and has never apologized

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Bette Midler says Geraldo Rivera drugged and 'groped' her in the 1970s, and has never apologized

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bette midler geraldo

Rob Kim, Michael Loccisano/Getty

Bette Midler accused Geraldo Rivera of sexual misconduct in 1991.

  • Bette Midler took to Twitter to share a video of a 1991 interview, in which she alleges that Geraldo Rivera drugged and "groped" her in the 1970s. 
  • In her tweet, Midler asked Rivera to apologize for the alleged incident.
  • Rivera drew controversy for defending Matt Lauer's alleged sexual misconduct on Twitter, which Rivera has since apologized for.

 

On Thursday, Bette Midler shared a video of a 1991 interview she did with Barbara Walters, in which Midler alleges that Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera and a producer drugged and "groped" her in a bathroom in the 1970s. 

"Tomorrow is my birthday. I feel like this video was a gift from the universe to me," Midler tweeted.  "Geraldo may have apologized for his tweets supporting Matt Lauer, but he has yet to apologize for this. #MeToo"

"He and his producer left the crew in the other room, they pushed me into my bathroom, they broke two poppers [the drug amyl nitrite] and pushed them under my nose and proceeded to grope me," Midler told Walters in the interview. 

Rivera's representatives did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

This week, after reports of Matt Lauer's alleged sexual misconduct broke, Rivera took to Twitter to defend Lauer and the "flirty business" of news. 

Five hours later, after the tweet drew controversy and led Fox News to issue a statement distancing itself from Rivera's comments, Rivera apologized for the tweet and called sexual harassment "a horrendous problem
long hidden."