Ali Abbasi, who directed a buzzy, but controversial biopic about President Donald Trump released last year, is “truly sorry” after a groping claim surfaced Friday.

Entertainment outlet Deadline first detailed the allegations of Abbasi’s alleged groping of an A-list actor at a Golden Globes afterparty in a report published Friday. His lengthy apology was first shared by TheWrap on Saturday and later obtained by USA TODAY.

“I want to address the recent articles about me directly and openly,” Abbasi said in the emailed statement. “I fully understand that my action made someone uncomfortable, regardless of my intent, and for that I am truly sorry.”

The alleged victim in question has not been publicly identified. Trump has faced several sexual harassment allegations of his own, which he has denied. In December, a New York federal appeals court upheld a jury’s previous verdict that Trump sexually abused and defamed columnist E. Jean Carroll and owed her $5 million for doing so.

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‘The Apprentice’ director accused of groping A-list actor

In his statement, Abbasi said that “I had spent time with the person concerned on multiple occasions and had reason to think we had a friendly relationship. When I saw him at the Golden Globes party, I was excited to reconnect.”

“I made an over-familiar gesture—a slap on the rear—which I intended as playful and not in any sexual way whatsoever. I quickly realized I had misjudged the situation. I apologized to him on the spot, and the following day I made sure my apology was reiterated through my representatives,” Abbasi added.

Abassi also denied reports he was dropped by his high-powered talent agency CAA and Entertainment 360 after the claims surfaced.

“I believe in taking accountability for my actions; I made a mistake, I apologized and have learned a valuable life lesson. I remain grateful for the incredible work of our cast, crew and supporters on ‘The Apprentice’ and I hope the focus stays on their achievements,” Abassi said.

The film, directed by Abbasi, features shape-shifting actor Sebastian Stan as Trump and “Succession” actor Jeremy Strong as his mentor Roy Cohn during Trump’s come up as a burgeoning New York real estate tycoon in the 1970s and ’80s. The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May 2024 and arrived in theaters in October last year.

Stan and Cohn received respective best actor and best supporting actor nominations at next Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, which takes place March 2.

‘The Apprentice’ includes controversial rape scene

In one of the film’s most controversial scenes, Trump sexually assaults his then-wife Ivana (played by Maria Bakalova).

The alleged rape, which the late Ivana Trump recanted in 2015, was taken from a court deposition “that Ivana gave under oath during her 1990 divorce,” screenwriter Gabriel Sherman told USA TODAY. Ivana Trump, the mother of the president’s three oldest children Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, died at 73 in July 2022.

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Per The Daily Beast, Ivana Trump said in the 1993 book “Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump” that she and Trump “had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage” and “referred to this as a ‘rape,’ but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”

In its October opening weekend, shortly before voters went to the polls in November, “The Apprentice” earned $1.58 million at the domestic box office, landing at No. 10 behind titles such as “Terrifier 3” (which opened at No. 1), “Joker: Folie à Deux” (No. 3) and the re-release of 1993’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (No. 9), according to Box Office Mojo.

Ali Abbassi expressed surprise at reaction to ‘The Apprentice’ sexual assault scene

In an interview with the Golden Globes’ official website in October, Abbasi addressed discourse surrounding the controversial scene.

“I find it really surprising that everyone in the U.S. seems to be very focused on the personal stuff,” Abbasi said, noting the sexual assault scene. “But it is not surprising that he got a tax break of 200 million dollars from a city that was collapsing? Or that he got away with a clearcut case of discrimination that the Department of Justice brought against him without him even getting a slap on the wrists.”

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Abbasi continued, asking additional rhetorical questions in his interview with the Golden Globes’ official site.

“It was not surprising that two-thirds of his business empire have been bankrupt? That he tried to steal his father’s family trust?” he asked, adding that “those are as controversial — if not more — as anything personal that happened. But it becomes this sensational thing, where people are like: ‘I did not know he had liposuction …'”

President Trump previously slammed the biopic as ‘disgusting’

After the film premiered in theaters, Trump slammed “The Apprentice” as a “disgusting hatchet job.”

In a Truth Social post in October, the then-Republican presidential nominee wrote that the film was “A FAKE and CLASSLESS Movie written about me, called, The Apprentice (Do they even have the right to use that name without approval?), will hopefully ‘bomb.'”

“It’s a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job, put out right before the 2024 Presidential Election, to try and hurt the Greatest Political Movement in the History of our Country, ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said.

At the time, Abbasi shot back at Trump on X, writing “Thanks for getting back to us @realDonaldTrump. I am available to talk further if you want. Today is a tight day w a lot of press for #TheApprentice but i might be able to give you a call tomorrow.”

Contributing: KiMi Robinson, Aysha Bagchi, Bart Jansen