In the candid conversation, Garlin defended his integrity and said that no one has personally spoken to him about his actions except for the show’s human resources department, which talked with him three times in three years.

Garlin’s interview with Vanity Fair’s Maureen Ryan this week avoids specifics in favor of general concepts of misconduct, answering unspecific rumors that have floated, including one that he was fired from the series.

In the talk, he defended his alleged actions as merely “silly,” and said he was a “hugger,” and had not been told about any aversion to his practice, even while admitting that the show’s human resources department had spoken with him three times in the last three years about his conduct..