Scott Brunton, the Oregon man who made headlines in late 2017 when he said "Star Trek" actor George Takei had sexually assaulted him, is challenging an Observer report that says Brunton has changed his story about the 1981 incident.

"I did not change my story," Brunton said Friday. "I'm baffled. I'm shocked."

In a phone interview Friday morning, the day after writer Shane Snow's story appeared on the Observer website, Brunton says Snow "misconstrued" what Brunton told him.

Brunton, a former Portlander who now lives in Bandon, says that Snow also relied on other news accounts that failed to include everything Brunton said in his interviews in late 2017.

Those actions, Brunton says, resulted in Snow writing a story that claims Brunton "has changed his story of drugging and assault."

Though Brunton, 60, says he had never forgotten what happened between him and Takei in 1981, he decided to share his story with the Hollywood Reporter in late 2017 after seeing Takei criticizing actor Kevin Spacey. Actor Anthony Rapp said that when he was 14, Spacey, who was 26 at the time, had made sexual advances to the teenager. In response, Spacey claimed not to remember the incident, and also publicly came out as gay for the first time.

Spacey's statement and his choice to come out at that moment were criticized by many, especially members of the LGBTQ community. Takei, for example, said in a statement that Spacey's declaration that he was gay was "a deflection," and had nothing to do with the misconduct Rapp described.

Remembering his encounter with Takei, Brunton decided it was time for him to share his own story.

"It was the hypocrisy of the man," Brunton says, referring to Takei. "That's why I felt I had to speak up."

As Brunton told the Hollywood Reporter in late 2017, he was in his early 20s when he became friendly with Takei, who was then in his early 40s. After Brunton broke up with his then-boyfriend, Takei offered a sympathetic ear and took Brunton to dinner and the theater. The two then went back to Takei's home.

Brunton said that once they were there, Takei served him two drinks, which left Brunton feeling "disoriented and dizzy," and that he "must have passed out."

In his interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Brunton said,"The next thing I remember I was coming to and he had my pants down around my ankles and he was groping my crotch and trying to get my underwear off and feeling me up at the same time, trying to get his hands down my underwear."

Brunton came to, he said, told Takei to stop what he was doing, and then Brunton pulled his pants back up and left.

In an interview with the Oregonian/OregonLive that appeared online Nov. 12, 2017, Brunton again told the story and talked about passing out after having only two drinks.

"I know unequivocally he spiked my drink," Brunton said of Takei in the Oregonian/OregonLive interview.

Takei addressed Brunton's allegations in a Nov. 11 post on Facebook, in which the actor wrote that he was "shocked and bewildered" by Brunton's claims, and said the events Brunton described "simply did not occur." Takei said he didn't remember Brunton, and added, "those that know me understand that non-consensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful."

In his Observer piece, Shane Snow writes about interviewing Brunton, and consulting with associates of Takei, toxicologists and legal experts in sex offenses.

In doing his research, Snow writes, two toxicologists he spoke to ruled out that Takei had spiked Brunton's drink, instead suggesting that Brunton may have suffered "postural hypotension, exacerbated by alcohol," meaning a sudden decrease in blood pressure that can happen when a person stands up quickly.

In addition, the fact that Brunton recovered awareness fairly fast doesn't sound like a drug was used, a date-rape expert told Snow.

Snow also writes that in their conversations, Brunton said he didn't remember Takei touching his genitals, and despite referring to meeting Takei for coffee during the Portland book tour stop in 1994, Snow writes that Brunton told him the coffee date didn't happen.

In his piece, Snow says inconsistencies in Brunton's interviews in 2017 - such as not mentioning the possibility of being drugged in every interview he gave - made Snow wonder about what really happened.

He had a personal interest, as well, Snow writes, because he had a book that was about to be published, which included a discussion of Takei's activism, including the actor's "fight against homophobia and Asian American discrimination."

"If Takei was indeed a creep," Snow writes, "I was inclined to remove him from my book."

In response to Snow's Observer article, Takei wrote a series of tweets, in which he again stated that he doesn't remember Brunton "or any of the events he described from forty years ago," but "I do understand that this was part of a very important national conversation that we as a society must have, painful as it might be."

As many of you know, this has been a very difficult period for myself and my husband Brad as we have dealt with the impact of these accusations, but we are happy to see that this nightmare is finally drawing to a close. https://t.co/nHCjnebCBO — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 25, 2018

As I stated before, I do not remember Mr. Brunton or any of the events he described from forty years ago, but I do understand that this was part of a very important national conversation that we as a society must have, painful as it might be. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 25, 2018

It is in that spirit that I want folks to know, despite what he has put us through, I do not bear Mr. Brunton any ill will, and I wish him peace. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 25, 2018

Brad and I are especially grateful for the many fans who stood by me throughout this ordeal. Your support kept us going, and we are so immensely thankful for you. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 25, 2018

On Friday, Brunton said that he talked to Snow "at great length" after the story of Brunton's allegations against Takei first broke.

But Brunton says that Snow's Observer article - in which the writer suggests that the public and press "got the George Takei assault story wrong" - reflects the fact that Snow had, as Brunton says, "an angle."

In what he says were probably several hours of phone conversations with Snow, Brunton recalls that "there were certain points where I was describing what happened, and he kept trying to get me to discount it, to retract that it was an assault."

Brunton also objected to Snow's suggestions that Takei wasn't trying to assault Brunton, but that their encounter was a date gone wrong.

"I felt there was groping, there was attempt to get my underwear off, he was on top of me," Brunton says. "What more do you need?"

He adds, "It doesn't matter whether I was drugged or not. The fact is, I was incapacitated, and he was taking advantage of that."

Snow kept asking him about the 1981 incident, Brunton says. "He pushed, and he pushed, asking, is it possible that George was also so intoxicated that George didn't know what he was doing? I said, it's possible, but it doesn't change the fact of what he did."

When Snow writes that Brunton has changed his story, Brunton says, "he's basically taken things that I said, and misconstrued them, twisted them."

In conversations with Snow, Brunton says, "it was like he was just looking for any little, tiny discrepancy."

For example, Brunton says, Snow focused on "minor details," like Brunton telling one news source that he and Takei had a meeting in Portland over coffee.

"It was supposed to be we wanted to have a meeting over coffee," Brunton says. When Takei was in Portland on a book tour in 1994, "I was talking to him over the phone at the Benson Hotel. He remembered me, and he said, I have a book signing." Brunton said he would come toward the end of the signing, and "we hoped to have coffee."

Instead, as Brunton recalls, at the end of the book signing, there was still a long line of people, many dressed in "Star Trek" costumes, and Brunton thought, "Well, this isn't going to happen."

In Snow's article, Brunton says, "He took a little thing like the coffee meeting," and "he twisted it into saying it was a fabricated coffee meeting."

As for Snow writing that Brunton was inconsistent in mentioning his belief that Takei drugged him or spiked his drink, Brunton says, "I told basically everyone that," but some of the outlets he spoke to chose not to publish his assertion.

"So (Snow) took that, and he said that I held back," Brunton says, which wasn't the case.

"I've learned that not all news organizations report everything you say," Brunton says. He also suggests that Snow had "an angle," because of the book he was about to publish, and its mention of Takei.

Of Takei, Brunton says, "I just wish he would own it, and apologize for it."

Brunton isn't planning on taking any action in response to Snow's article, he says. "I'm just trying to clear my name," and point out that Snow's story "doesn't match the headline," about the accuser changing his story.

"I'm ready to move on," Brunton says. He says he doesn't regret coming forward with his story.

"It's been gratifying knowing that perhaps maybe I've encouraged other people who have been under similar circumstances to come forward and tell their stories."

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@Kristiturnquis