The stars of ABC’s Modern Family are currently in Australia filming a family vacation episode and on Wednesday night Qantas airlines threw the cast a party at The Sebel Pier One in Sydney. 23-year-old actress Sarah Hyland (who plays Haley Dunphy on the show) was in attendance (the photos in this post are from the event), but she left abruptly after a male fan allegedly groped her breast after asking to take a photo with her.
Eyewitnesses say Sarah immediately pushed the man away and yelled, “Don’t touch me there!” Security guards intervened and then turned the matter over to police.
“A man is assisting police with investigations following an alleged indecent assault of a woman yesterday,” an NSW Police spokesperson tells The Daily Mail. “It is alleged the man indecently assaulted the 23-year-old woman near Hickson Road, The Rocks, at about 7.50pm.” The spokesperson later added, “A 29-year-old man was arrested. Police are continuing their investigations.”
After departing the event, reportedly through a rear entrance and streaming tears, Sarah Hyland took to Twitter to apologize to fans for leaving early. “Sorry to all the fans outside the #qantas event that I didn’t get to say hi to,” Sarah wrote, “but I had to leave due to an inappropriate touch of a fan.”
Sorry to all the fans outside the #qantas event that I didn't get to say hi to but I had to leave due to an inappropriate touch of a fan
— Sarah Hyland (@Sarah_Hyland) February 20, 2014
Sarah Hyland’s boyfriend Matt Prokop also took to Twitter after the incident, but he was a little less diplomatic with his outrage over what happened:
To the asshole who assaulted Sarah tonight I hope to God you don't see next week.
— Matt Prokop (@mattpro13) February 20, 2014
All Sarah wanted to do tonight was say hi to the girls who were waiting outside one douche can ruin it for everyone. Goodnight.
— Matt Prokop (@mattpro13) February 20, 2014
UPDATE – It seems Matt’s angry tweets drew a bit of criticism for being too harsh (???) and he responded like a true gentleman:
Sorry for the "offensive" tweet. But in the states we respect women.
— Matt Prokop (@mattpro13) February 20, 2014
