Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles accused of sexual assaults

Harry Knowles, the movie critic and founder of the website Ain’t It Cool News, has been accused of sexual assault in two incidents dating back 20 years.

Jasmine Baker claims that Knowles ‘groped me, opportunistically, on more than one occasion’ at an event held by the Alamo Drafthouse cinema in Austin, Texas.

“I cannot just stay silent. I am not interested in remaining silent,” she told Indiewire.

Baker was familiar with Knowles in 1999 and 2000, and often attended events at the famed art-house cinema, which now has branches across the US.

She claims that he rubbed up against her buttocks and legs on the first occasion, however, she was initially willing to believe it was an accident.

However, she says that he rubbed up against her a second time, and also put his hand under her shirt. When confronted about his behaviour, ‘he just giggled about it’, she added.

Knowles has said of the accusations: “I categorically deny it.”

He added that he and Baker had been friends, and ‘she treated me like a confidante’, but said that their friendship had ended in 2002, following the breakup of Knowles and a mutual friend.

Baker said that around the Drafthouse at the time there was ‘that type of mentality of, ‘Well, what are you gonna do?’

“Twenty years ago, 18 years ago, women routinely were encouraged to just watch their own behavior and other people who wanted to do inappropriate things or say inappropriate things and be inappropriate and leer and be lecherous without your permission, without your consent, the air in the room was more on the side of, ‘Well, you should watch what you do,’ not, ‘Don’t touch people without their consent. No means no,’” she said.

She later worked for the Drafthouse between 2003 and 2007, and told the company’s founders Tim and Karrie League about what had happened, saying that they ‘thought it was horrifying, but also didn’t know what to do’.

“Their suggestion was, ‘Just avoid him’. And I did that. In light of all that has happened for them publicly, today they might make a different choice about how to handle someone they did business with. But at that time, they were trying to bring inclusiveness to everyone and also didn’t want to confront a business partner.”

Knowles and League went on to create the cinema’s annual Fantastic Fest in 2005, which has been dogged with controversy of a similar type this year.

League had to issue an apology after it was revealed that he had employed Devin Faraci to write copy for this year’s festival, despite Faraci having been fired from the Drafthouse’s movie website Birth.Movies.Death following allegations of sexual assault last year.

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