Former The Young and the Restless and Passions star Justin Hartley (ex-Adam Newman; ex-Fox Crane) is no stranger to receiving attention from millions of adoring fans, but his role on the successful primetime series This Is Us has given the frequency of such encounters an intense boost. And apparently the nature of such encounters has also changed.
The actor recently told Good Housekeeping that one fan crossed the line so much while he was dining at a restaurant in Chicago, he considers it sexual harassment.
"I'm not afraid to say this, because I think she should be ashamed of herself," he says. "This woman -- who I don't know, a stranger to me -- recognized me and started screaming, going crazy... She ran over and started kissing me."
Hartley says he immediately backed away and asked the unnamed woman to do the same, making it clear that his personal space had just been violated.
"I said, ‘You do not walk up to people that you do not know and put your mouth on their face. If I did that to you, I would be in prison. Please do not do that. And not that I'm trying to teach you life lessons, but I feel like this is a really good one for you. Don't do that to anybody ever again,'" Hartley recalls.
After he dismissed the woman's advances, he reports she seemed embarrassed and backed off. But unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it. The fan approached him again while he was enjoying his dinner, this time asking if she could have a photo with him.
"I'm usually really good with photos, but I'm, like, ‘I'm not taking photos with you after you sexually harassed me. I'm good without a photo," he reports. "As she was leaving, she was, like, ‘Justin Hartley is a jerk,' but not really jerk -- [she said] something more foul. I was, like, ‘You've got to be kidding me.'"
Hartley played the role of Y&R's Adam from 2014 to 2016. He got his start in daytime as Passions' Fox Crane, a role he played from 2002 to 2006.
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