Former Arrowverse EP Andrew Kreisberg Arrested for Alleged ‘Forcible Touching’ at a Bar Mitzvah
UPDATE (10/04/2023): A representative for Andrew Kreisberg reached out to TV Insider regarding the below report with a statement saying, “Mr. Kreisberg never posted a bond and was not required to by the state,” adding that “authorities chose to not press charges.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE (10/03/2023): Andrew Kreisberg, a once prominent executive producer for The CW DC superhero dramas such as Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, was fired by Warner Bros. in November 2017 after it launched an investigation into sexual harassment allegations filed against him by co-workers. Kreisberg has always denied the allegations. Now, a new report says Kreisberg was arrested and charged with forcibly touching a woman at a bar mitzvah in New York in March 2023.
In 2017, 19 of Kreisberg’s former colleagues (15 women and four men) on the DC superhero shows described multiple alleged incidents of inappropriate touching and sexual harassment that they said they either experienced themselves or witnessed to Variety. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation from the network, the studio, or other colleagues. The report was published on November 10, 2017. Around the same time, Warner Bros. informed the outlet that it had suspended Kreisberg and were investigating the allegations, per Variety. The studio fired him on November 29, 2017.
The same reporter of the 2017 story, Maureen Ryan, reported the news of Kreisberg’s arrest for Vanity Fair on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. While Kreisberg was arrested and charged in March 2023, the alleged incident prompting the legal action reportedly took place in May 2022 at a bar mitzvah in Pleasantville, New York. Per New York state’s judicial and criminal justice systems documents cited in Vanity Fair, a woman told police that she was standing at a high-top table “facing the dance floor” when Kreisberg allegedly walked up behind her. The woman said she knew Kreisberg, as she was a friend of his wife.
“Andrew Kreisberg… approached me at the table. While we are standing at the table, Andrew gets behind me and starts putting his hands all over my arms and back,” her statement said, per Vanity Fair. “He then slid his hands around my waist, grabbed my waist firmly, and thrust his fully erect penis into my buttocks twice. It all happened so fast that I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on until I felt Andrew shove his fully erect penis into my buttocks. When I realized what was going on, I screamed, ‘What the f**k are you doing? Get the f**k away from me.’ Then I went to the bathroom.”
Vanity Fair reports that the woman told police she filed the report because Kreisberg “needs to have someone stand up for themselves against him.” This eventually resulted in a reported misdemeanor forcible touching charge, which as described by New York penal code, is when someone intentionally touches the intimate or private parts of another person for no reason or for their own sexual gratification. Squeezing, grabbing, or pinching all qualify as forcible touching, and the code states it can occur in public and private spaces.
Police documents cited in Vanity Fair say that Kreisberg’s legal team submitted photos, texts, and videos that they claimed was “evidence that proves that [name redacted] is making up this story and in fact it never happened at all” to a Pleasantville detective. Per police documents, that detective informed the legal team on March 9 that the submitted materials “did not indicate that Kreisberg was innocent and that [name redacted] had made up the whole encounter.”
Kreisberg’s legal team said he was innocent in a statement to Vanity Fair. The statement also accused the report of being ableist toward neurodivergent people. Neurodivergent is an umbrella term used for people whose brains process information in a way that is different from what’s considered typical, such as people on the autism spectrum and/or people with ADHD. Being neurodivergent does not prevent one from knowing what does and does not qualify as consensual touch.
“Mr. Kreisberg remains a very talented creative person. He is misunderstood for being a neurodivergent individual who is socially awkward. Your article will be another event of the ableist bullying of people who are neurodivergent as they are misperceived,” the statement says.
Kreisberg reportedly voluntarily surrendered to police on March 23, 2023. Per Vanity Fair, he posted bond and was arraigned the same day. A Pleasantville Village Court judge granted an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal during an August 8 court proceeding at which Kreisberg was reportedly present. The charge will be dismissed and the record will be sealed in February 2024 provided that Kreisberg follows the court’s orders, one of the conditions being that he continue with psychiatric therapy in which he was previously partaking. But for now, the case remains open, and there is an order of protection against Kreisberg.
A former Warner Bros. colleague of Kreisberg’s told Vanity Fair, “Honestly, hearing about this arrest is horrifying.”
