Arnold Schwarzenegger apologises for groping women 20 years after dismissing allegations as 'made-up'

6 June 2023, 16:03

Arnold Schwarzenegger faced allegations he had groped and humiliated women in 2003
Arnold Schwarzenegger faced allegations he had groped and humiliated women in 2003. Picture: Getty
Kieran Kelly

By Kieran Kelly

Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger has apologised for groping women, two decades after he dismissed the allegations as "made-up".

Schwarzenegger was accused of groping and humiliating six women in the run up to the 2004 California governor election, which he won.

The actor dismissed the story, labelling it a media-led attack.

He has since backtracked, revealing in his new three-part Netflix documentary that he had acted "defensively", Rolling Stone reports.

Listen and subscribe to Unprecedented: Inside Downing Street on Global Player

Arnold Schwarzenegger rows back on his dismissals in his new Netflix show
Arnold Schwarzenegger rows back on his dismissals in his new Netflix show. Picture: Getty

"Today, I can look at it and kind of say, it doesn't really matter what time it is," he says.

"If it's the Muscle Beach days of 40 years ago, or today, that this was wrong. It was b******t.

"Forget all the excuses, it was wrong."

Read More: Prince Harry claims tabloid rumours about his biological father were ‘plan to oust him from royal family’

Read More: Ambulance workers spat at and sexually assaulted nearly 10,000 times over past five years as abuse hits new peak

In total, Schwarzenegger faced accusations of groping by 15 women across a 30-year period.

LA Times reporter Carla Hall - who broke the initial story in the early 2000s - said she was initially shocked that her story did not impact the 2004 election more.

"I thought that more people would be offended themselves," she said.

The actor's new docu-series, set to release on June 7, explores Schwarzenegger's decades-long career, as well as his personal life.

It includes new revelations about telling his wife that he had a child with another women, which led Maria Shriver to divorce him.