Harlan Ellison breast grabbing incident (2006)

Harlan Ellison grabbed Connie Willis' breast live on stage at a 2006 Hugo Awards ceremony. Widely perceived as offensive, including reportedly by Willis herself, Ellison contended throughout Fall of 2006 that the gesture was intended as a playful gesture in response to Willis' comment about his infantile behavior. At times he acknowledged that his behavior was boorish, but apparently felt that it was in keeping with his widespread reputation as "outspoken" and "obnoxious". However, fans thoroughly fisked the incident and his responses afterwards, and brought to light numerous other incidents of "obnoxious" behavior that reflected gender-specific targeting of inappropriate behavior.

Discussions and commentary at:

• Yonmei at Feminist SF - The Blog ("Yes, Harlan Ellison has always been a sexist creep - and he still is")
• Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Making Light ("It's not okay. It's not funny. ... It was just pathetic and nasty and sad and most of us didn't want to watch it." PNH also made the direct link to George W. Bush's 2006 shoulder-rub of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.)
• Ben Rosenbaum's open letter to Harlan Ellison
• Harlan's "apologetic" comment (need link)