You can bet there are countless Hollywood men tossing and turning in their sleep right now, wondering if tomorrow will be the day that they are outed for past behaviour.

So what do you do when you have the feeling that someone is about to go public with a story from 30 years ago? You strike first, if you’re Michael Douglas.

He believes that a former employee of his will shortly accuse him of masturbating in front of her, and he has come out swinging.

Huff Post SA reports:

“This is a complete lie, fabrication, no truth to it whatsoever,” the actor told Deadline on Tuesday in an interview that he said was necessary “to get ahead of this.”

Douglas, 73, also rejected the unnamed woman’s claim that he had her blackballed from the movie industry after he fired her. He said the woman made the allegations to trade publications ― he mentioned Variety and The Hollywood Reporter ― for an upcoming article.

“I had the choice of waiting for a story to come out, one that will clearly get picked up by other newspapers and magazines, and then I have to sit there and try to defend myself,” he told Deadline. “Or, try to share with the public, a little ahead of the story, my thoughts and concerns. Again, I am sorry if I used coarse language with my friends. But this is really debilitating. It can have a large effect on my career. And also, I think it really sends a message out.”

That ‘coarse language’ he refers to relates to claims the woman made about overhearing private conversations Douglas had whilst she was employed, during which he used ‘colourful language’.

He also “emphasized [sic] that the dialogue wasn’t aimed at the employee”.

You’ll find the full Deadline interview HERE.

What’s the best course of action – do a Douglas and go public before the allegations, or do a James Franco and appear on a talk show to defend yourself?

Probably best to start with not sexually harassing women.

[source:huffpostsa]