0:24
- ABC News
- December 1, 2017
Rivera apologizes to Midler for alleged incident
He also noted his recollection of the incident differed from Midler's.
In his tweet, Rivera was responding to an old video Midler shared yesterday, where she called out Rivera for the alleged act, adding in her caption, \"I feel like this video was a gift from the universe to me. Geraldo may have apologized for his tweets supporting Matt Lauer, but he has yet to apologize for this.\"
Midler was referring to Rivera's other mea culpa, this time after defending Lauer, even calling him a \"great guy\" following his termination from NBC earlier this week for what his former network called \"inappropriate sexual behavior.\" Midler also added a #MeToo hashtag, a symbol of speaking out on social media against sexual harassment or assault.
Tomorrow is my birthday. I feel like this video was a gift from the universe to me. Geraldo may have apologized for his tweets supporting Matt Lauer, but he has yet to apologize for this. #MeToo pic.twitter.com/TkcolFWfA2
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) November 30, 2017
In the clip, Midler tells Barbara Walters that during an interview in the 1970's, Rivera \"and his producer left the crew in the other room. They pushed me into my bathroom. They broke two poppers and pushed them under my nose and proceeded to grope me.\"
\"Poppers\" is slang for the recreational drug alkyl nitrite.
\"Grope?\" Walters asks, looking surprised. Midler responds, \"Groped me. I did not offer myself up on the altar of Geraldo Rivera. He was ... he was unseemly.\"
A representative for Midler told ABC News that she had no further comment beyond her tweet. Before his tweet, Rivera's representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
In a review of Rivera's 1991 memoir, \"Exposing Myself,\" The Washington Post pulled a line from the book, in which he wrote about his version of the alleged incident, \"We were in the bathroom, preparing for the interview, and at some point I put my hands on her breasts.\"
In the tweet that caught Midler's attention, which he would later \"humbly apologize\" for, Rivera wrote, \"Sad about @MLauer great guy, highly skilled & empathetic w guests & a real gentleman to my family & me. News is a flirty business & it seems like current epidemic of #SexHarassmentAllegations may be criminalizing courtship & conflating it w predation.\"
","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/geraldo-rivera-apologizes-bette-midler-alleged-groping-incident/story?id=51514874","legacySlug":"/culture/story/geraldo-rivera-apologizes-bette-midler-alleged-groping-incident-51514874","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"18:12","publishDate":"12-01-2017","updatedTime":"18:38","updatedDate":"12-01-2017","socialImage":{"alt":"Bette Midler attends an event on Feb. 8, 2016, in Beverly Hills, Calif.| Geraldo Rivera appears on \"Good Morning America\" on March 3, 2016. ","credit":"Getty Images FILE","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/bette-miidler-geraldo-rivera-gty-jpo-171130_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"12/1/2017 18:12:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":51514874,"headline":"Rivera apologizes to Midler for alleged incident","mediaAssetTitle":"rothman_geraldo_bette_171201","description":"He also noted his recollection of the incident differed from Midler's. ","duration":"0:24","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2017/11/171130_wabc_bette_midler_metoo_MIX_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["133144263","132956835","132488083"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"May 20, 2026","headline":"Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","section":"News","slug":"/video/133144263","id":"133144263","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"May 14, 2026","headline":"Trump meets Xi Jinping in high-stakes Beijing summit","section":"News","slug":"/video/132956835","id":"132956835","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Trump meets Xi Jinping in high-stakes Beijing summit","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Trump meets Xi Jinping in high-stakes Beijing summit","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"April 29, 2026","headline":"Grand jury indicts former FBI director over Instagram post","section":"News","slug":"/video/132488083","id":"132488083","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Grand jury indicts former FBI director over Instagram post","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Grand jury indicts former FBI director over Instagram post","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Rivera apologizes to Midler for alleged incident","description":"He also noted his recollection of the incident differed from Midler's. ","duration":"0:24","uploadDate":"12-01-2017","publication":"12-01-2017","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2017/11/171130_wabc_bette_midler_metoo_MIX_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2017/11/171130_wabc_bette_midler_metoo_MIX_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/geraldo-rivera-apologizes-bette-midler-alleged-groping-incident-51514874"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133075455","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063114","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063086","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133015093","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998564","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998072","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977374","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977531","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132962364","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132958371","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132932494","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132927870","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911868","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132880952","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132873763","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"Rivera apologizes to Midler for alleged incident","pubTime":"13:12","pubDate":"12-01-2017","modTime":"13:38","modDate":"12-01-2017","taxonomyTags":"none","id":51514874,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Rivera apologizes to Midler for alleged incident","mediaAssetTitle":"rothman_geraldo_bette_171201","videoId":51514874,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/geraldo-rivera-apologizes-bette-midler-alleged-groping-incident-51514874"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/51514874","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/51514874","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};