LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Comedian Andy Dick, accused of groping a woman, pleaded not guilty today to one misdemeanor count of sexual battery and another count of battery. An attorney entered the plea on behalf of Dick, who did not appear in the Van Nuys courtroom.
The charges, filed June 7 by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, stem from allegations that the comedian groped a stranger on April 5, made lewd comments and squeezed the woman's buttocks as he walked past, TMZ reported. The actor was fired from the independent film ``Raising Buchanan'' last year after co-workers accused him of groping, licking and sexually propositioning them, sources told The Hollywood Reporter.
The comedian denied the groping allegations to the trade paper last October, but acknowledged he may have licked people as part of his comic shtick.``I didn't grope anybody. I might have kissed somebody on the cheek to say goodbye and then licked them. That's my thing,'' Dick said.``I licked Carrie Fisher at a roast. It's me being funny. I'm not trying to sexually harass people," he said.
The comic actor told THR at the time that he had toned down his behavior.``I don't grope people anymore. I don't expose myself anymore," Dick said then. ``I do understand that the temperature in the world right now is delicate.''