Donald Trump's treatment of women drew new scrutiny this month after the release of a 2005 Access Hollywood tape showed him bragging about kissing women, grabbing them "by the pussy," and attempting to have sex with a married woman.
In response to the tape, Trump — who had cultivated a playboy image for years through parties, his modeling agency, and his ownership of the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants — said it was all just "locker room talk."
"I have great respect for women," Trump said in the second presidential debate. "Nobody has more respect for women than I do."
Anderson Cooper, the debate's moderator, pressed the Republican on if he had ever physically groped or kissed women without consent.
"No, I have not," Trump said.
These are the women who say that's a lie.
Jessica Leeds: 1980s
Leeds told the New York Times she wound up sitting next to Trump on an airplane after being unexpectedly upgraded to first class three decades ago.
They initially chatted, but about 45 minutes into the flight, he began grabbing her breasts and reaching up under her skirt, she told the Times.
“He was like an octopus,” she told the Times. “His hands were everywhere.”
Jill Harth: 1992
Kristin Anderson: early 1990s
EXCLUSIVE: Woman says Trump reached under her skirt and groped her in early 1990s - The Washington Post https://t.co/aUMLUvDi2z
Kristin Anderson told the Washington Post that, while having a conversation with friends at a Manhattan club in the early 1990s, Trump — who was sitting on the same couch — surreptitiously slid his fingers under her skirt, up her thigh, and touched her vagina through her underwear.
She shoved the hand away, looked to see who it belonged to, and immediately recognized him.
“He was so distinctive looking — with the hair and the eyebrows. I mean, nobody else has those eyebrows," she said.
“It wasn’t a sexual come-on. I don’t know why he did it. It was like just to prove that he could do it, and nothing would happen,” Anderson said. “There was zero conversation. We didn’t even really look at each other. It was very random, very nonchalant on his part.”
E. Jean Carroll: late 1995 or early 1996
Celebrated advice columnist E. Jean Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in the dressing room of a New York City department store sometime in late 1995 or early 1996.
Carroll — who said that Trump attacked her in a Bergdof Goodman dressing room, pulled down her tights, and "thrust his penis" in her — detailed the alleged incident in her new book, What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal, an excerpt of which was published in The Cut on June 21, 2019.
In her book, Carroll, now 75, wrote that she met Trump at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan when he recognized her as "that advice lady" and sought her help to buy a gift for "a girl."
Carroll, who was 52 at the time, said that after she agreed to help him, Trump asked her to try on a "lacy see-through bodysuit." When she she responded by joking that he should try it on, they both made their way to a dressing room.
After the dressing room door closed, Carroll said that Trump pushed her against the wall, put his mouth against her lips, and pulled down her tights.
She said that Trump then "unzips his pants, and, forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway — or completely, I’m not certain — inside me."
Carroll said she struggled with Trump during the nearly three-minute encounter and was eventually able to push him off of her and run out of the store.
Carroll — who is now an Elle magazine advice columnist — said she did not report the incident to police and never had sex again after the alleged encounter.
She said she did not come forward until 2019 for fear of "receiving death threats, being driven from my home, being dismissed, being dragged through the mud, and joining the 15 women who’ve come forward with credible stories about how the man grabbed, badgered, belittled, mauled, molested, and assaulted them, only to see the man turn it around, deny, threaten, and attack them."
Temple Taggart: 1997
Temple Taggart was 21 years old when she was Miss Utah in 1997, the first year Trump owned the Miss USA pageant.
"He kissed me directly on the lips," Taggart told the New York Times in May. "I thought, 'Oh my God, gross.' He was married to Marla Maples at the time. I think there were a few other girls that he kissed on the mouth. I was like 'Wow, that’s inappropriate.'"
Trump again kissed her on the lips when she visited New York to discuss modeling opportunities, she told the Times.
In a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred, who now represents her, on Oct. 28, Taggart said that her coming forward was "not about sex. It is about the attitude and behavior of a man seeking the highest office in the United States."
She added that she was not planning to file a lawsuit against Trump at this time.
A registered Republican, Taggart said that she was considering voting for a third-party candidate this year.
Cathy Heller: 1997
Cathy Heller told the Guardian that Trump grabbed her and "went for the lips" at a Mother's Day brunch at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 1997 in Palm Beach, Florida.
Heller said that she was with her husband, three children, and parents-in-law when Trump approached their table, which was located in an open lobby.
She said when her mother-in-law went to introduce her to Trump, "He took my hand, and grabbed me, and went for the lips."
Heller twisted away and said she almost lost her balance, prompting Trump to say, "Oh, come on."
He was strong, Heller said, and grabbed her again. He kissed her on the side of the mouth, and she remembered he "kept me there for a little too long" before walking away.
"I was angry and shaken," she told the Guardian. "He was pissed. He couldn't believe a woman would pass up the opportunity."
One of Heller's relatives also told the Guardian that she was "really freaked out," and recalled Trump being "very forceful.
"She was definitely affected by this man who was very aggressive toward her," the relative added.
Karena Virginia: 1998
Karena Virginia, a yoga teacher from New Jersey, said at a press conference that Donald Trump groped her and made a sexual comment about her appearance during the 1998 US Open.
With her attorney Gloria Allred by her side, Virginia said when she was 27 years old, Trump approached her as she was waiting for a car to arrive to take her home outside the tennis venue in Queens, New York.
“I was surprised when I overheard him talking to the other men about me,” she said. “He said, ‘hey look at this one, we haven’t seen her before, look at those legs,’ as thought I was an object rather than a person.”
Virginia then said Trump walked up to her, reached out his right arm and grabbed her arm. His hand then touched the right side of her breast, she said.
The woman said she flinched and pulled back, and said Trump asked, “Don’t you know who I am?”
“I felt intimidated and powerless,” she said.
Virginia said it wasn’t until about five years ago that she realized she was a victim and that he had violated her.
“Mr. Trump, perhaps you do not remember me or what you did to me so many years ago,” she said during tearful remarks. “But, I can assure you that I remember you and what you did to me as though it was yesterday. Your random moment of sexual pleasure came at my expense and affected me greatly.”
Mindy McGillivray: 2003
EXCLUSIVE: Woman says Trump groped her in Palm Beach https://t.co/coBG54w1bb
The Palm Beach Post reported Mindy McGillivray said Trump groped her during an event at his Mar-a-Lago resort in 2003.
McGillivray told the Post she was helping a photographer during a Ray Charles concert when she felt a grab or nudge on her butt, then turned around to see Trump.
“This was a pretty good nudge. More of a grab,’’ she told the Post. “It was pretty close to the center of my butt. I was startled. I jumped.’’
Rachel Crooks: 2005
Rachel Crooks told the New York Times she was working as a receptionist in 2005 for a development company with offices in Trump Tower. One day, she saw Trump while waiting for an elevator and introduced herself. She told the Times that they shook hands, and he began kissing her on the cheeks and directly on the mouth.
“It was so inappropriate,” Crooks told the Times. “I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that.”
Natasha Stoynoff: 2005
People writer Natasha Stoynoff wrote on Wednesday about her 2005 visit to Mar-a-Lago to interview Donald and Melania Trump for a story on the couple's first anniversary.
"We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us," Stoynoff wrote. "I turned around, and within seconds, he was pushing me against the wall, and forcing his tongue down my throat."
He told her, "You know we're going to have an affair, don't you," Stoynoff wrote. She said she was shocked, then later angry, afraid, and ashamed.
"And, just for the record, Mr. Trump, I did not consent," she said.
On Tuesday, People magazine reported that six colleagues and close friends of Stoynoff have corroborated her story of alleged assault.
One colleague also corroborated Stoynoff's story of running into Melania Trump on the streets in New York, months after the alleged assault, an allegation that Melania Trump has denied. In fact, Melania sent People magazine a letter demanding a "retraction and apology" from Stoynoff, claiming that the meeting on the street was "false and completely fictionalized."
Read her full account of what happened here.
Summer Zervos: 2007
Summer Zervos, a contestant on Season 5 of The Apprentice, said Donald Trump groped and forcibly kissed her at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007 during her pursuit of a job at his organization.
Flanked by attorney Gloria Allred during a news conference in Los Angeles, Zervos went into detail about how Trump kissed her on the mouth twice during an initial interview at his office in New York, and then, a few days later in Beverly Hills, became extremely sexually aggressive in his hotel room where she met him.
Zervos, who was fired from The Apprentice, recalled how Trump emerged from a back room of his bungalow dressed in a suit and kissed her “open-mouthed, pulling me towards him,” while referring to her as his “OC angel.”
Zervos also said Trump put his hand on her breast, despite her trying to push him away, and recalled telling him, “Come on man, get real.” Eventually, she said Trump backed off and told her to meet him at his golf course in Palos Verdes the next day.
She was offered a job at a lower salary than she was seeking and felt it was because she had turned down his advances. When she later called Trump, he told her to never use his direct line again.
Zervos said she decided to come forward with her story after hearing Trump's "grab them by the pussy" comment and the accounts of other women who allege they were also the victims of his unwanted advances.
"Mr. Trump, when I met you I was so impressed with your talents that I wanted to be like you. I wanted a job with your organization," Zervos said at the news conference. "Instead, you treated me as though I was an object to be hit upon. I was incredibly embarrassed by your sexual advances and shared this information with a select few people close to me. Mr. Trump, today I feel that you were interested in me only because you wanted to have a sexual relationship with me and for no other reason."
Cassandra Searles: 2013
In a Facebook post first reported by Yahoo News, Miss Washington 2013 said Trump treated pageant contestants like property.
He also groped her repeatedly and asked her to come up to his hotel room, she wrote.
"He probably doesn’t want me telling the story about that time he continually grabbed my ass and invited me to his hotel room,” she reportedly wrote in a Facebook comment.
Searles did not immediately respond a BuzzFeed News request for more information.
Jessica Drake: Mid-2000s
Adult film actress Jessica Drake alleged the real-estate billionaire once invited her up to his hotel suite and, after she refused, asked her, "How much?"
The incident, Drake said, occurred about 10 years ago while she was attending a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe with the adult film company, Wicked Pictures.
At a press conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred, Drake said Trump flirted with her before the tournament, asked for her phone number, and then invited her to his hotel suite.
Trump allegedly greeted her and her two friends in his pajamas, "grabbed each of us tightly in a hug and kissed each of us on the lips without asking for permission."
She and her friends left about 45 minutes later, but Drake said she got a call from someone on Trump's behalf inviting her back to his suite for dinner and to accompany Trump to a party. Drake said she refused.
"Then Donald called," she said, repeating the invitation. "I declined. Donald then asked me, 'What do you want? How much?'"
Drake said she refused again, and then received a third call from "Donald or a male calling on his behalf" who offered her $10,000 and use of his jet if she were to go up to his suite.
She refused again, stating she had to return to Los Angeles for work, and said she was offered use of Trump's private jet if she went back to Trump's room.
Drake, in her prepared statement, does not specify whether she declined the last offer.
In a statement, the Trump campaign denied the allegations and said, "Mr. Trump does not know this person, does not remember this person and would have no interest in ever knowing her."
Ninni Laaksonen: July 2006
Former Miss Finland Ninni Laaksonen has alleged Trump groped her when she was a Miss Universe competitor in New York in 2006.
Laaksonen alleged the billionaire "grabbed my butt" shortly before she and three other Miss Universe contestants were due to appear with him on the Late Show with David Letterman in July of that year.
The former contestant told Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat: "Trump stood right next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt. He really grabbed my butt.
"I don’t think anybody saw it but I flinched and thought: 'What is happening?'"
Laaksonen, who said she had not spoken about the alleged experience before, also claimed after the reported incident she attended a house party with other contestants and Trump's current wife Melania. "Somebody told me there that Trump liked me because I looked like Melania when she was younger," she said.
BuzzFeed News has attempted to contact Laaksonen for comment.