a former contestant on donald trump <u+2019>s <u+201c>the apprentice<u+201d> said friday that the republican presidential nominee forced himself on her at a meeting at a hotel in 2007, kissing her aggressively, touching her breast and thrusting his genitals toward her. summer zervos, who appeared on season 5 of the reality show, became the latest woman to come forward with allegations of unwanted sexual advances from mr. trump since last week<u+2019>s release of a video showing mr. trump in 2005 speaking lewdly about being able to force himself on women because of his fame. mr. trump said in a statement friday, <u+201c>i vaguely remember ms. zervos as one of the many contestants on the apprentice over the years. to be clear, i never met her at a hotel or greeted her inappropriately a decade ago. that is not who i am as a person, and it is not how i<u+2019>ve conducted my life. in fact, ms. zervos continued to contact me for help, emailing my office on april 14th of this year asking that i visit her restaurant in california.<u+201d> the week has brought an onslaught of accusations against mr. trump over alleged sexual misconduct that<u+2019>s occurred since the 1980s. mr. trump has gone forcefully on a counterattack, denying the accusations and threatening to sue the new york times for an article in which two women shared their experiences of mr. trump<u+2019>s alleged advances. <u+201c>this whole thing is one big fix,<u+201c> the republican presidential nominee said, referring to the accusations in general on friday. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s one big, ugly lie. it<u+2019>s one big fix.<u+201d> the times said it stood by its reporting and declined a demand from a lawyer representing mr. trump to remove the story. separately, the washington post reported friday that a woman said mr. trump had groped her under her skirt while she was out with friends in manhattan in the 1990s. mr. trump denied the allegation in the post through his spokeswoman. some of the women have said they decided to publicly speak about their experiences after hearing mr. trump call his language in the 2005 video <u+201c>locker room<u+201d> banter and deny during a presidential debate that he ever acted on it. on friday, ms. zervos<u+2019>s lawyer, gloria allred, said her client felt a duty to speak out after the release of the 2005 tape. ms. zervos, her voice cracking, shared her story<u+00a0>at a news conference held in ms. allred<u+2019>s los angeles offices. surrounded by a swarm of cameras, ms. zervos described how mr. trump, whom she viewed as a mentor and potential employer, showered her with compliments before kissing her twice on the lips at a meeting in new york in 2007. later that year, he came to los angeles, ms. zervos said. she went to meet him for dinner at the beverly hills hotel, where she says she was unexpectedly taken by a trump security guard to a bungalow at the hotel rather than a restaurant. there, she says, mr. trump greeted her with a singsong <u+201c>hello<u+201d> before aggressively kissing her and placing his hand on her breast. when he tried to bring her into his bedroom, she says, she resisted, telling him to <u+201c>get real.<u+201d> in response, she said, he began pushing his genitals toward her and tried to kiss her again. over dinner, she said, the mood shifted and they began talking about business, including a job opportunity at one of his golf courses. <u+201c>i was very conflicted as to what occurred,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>i wondered if the sexual behavior was some kind of test and whether or not i had passed.<u+201d> even after the sexual advances, she said, she still wanted to work with the trump organization, but she said mr. trump then gave her the <u+201c>run around.<u+201d> ms. zervos said she told two people close to her at the time of the incidents, but never reported anything to law enforcement. ms. zervos said she reached out to mr. trump<u+2019>s office this april after seeing him nonstop on the campaign trail and having the pain of the alleged assault reignited. <u+201c>i felt the need to confront mr. trump and ask him to apologize to me for his behavior,<u+201d> she said, but didn<u+2019>t get a response to her attempts to reach him. <u+201c>donald trump thinks that he can do and say whatever he wants,<u+201d> ms. allred said. <u+201c>his response that it was all <u+2018>locker room<u+2019> talk is chilling when you consider the words coming from a man seeking the highest office in the land.<u+201d> she said ms. zervos doesn<u+2019>t intend to sue mr. trump. write to sara randazzo at sara.randazzo@wsj.com
former <u+2018>apprentice<u+2019> contestant accuses donald trump of unwanted sexual advance  - wsj
sara randazzo