Jeremy Piven Breaks Down After Closed-Door Hearing

The "sushi-gate" debacle has come to an end in Jeremy Piven's favor, but the actor is still feeling emotional about it.

After a closed-door hearing of the Actors' Equity Association and the Broadway League on Thursday, Piven avoided penalties for his sudden, high-profile departure from the Broadway play Speed the Plow, which he blamed on mercury poisoning. But during an interview with The New York Timesfollowing the hearing, Piven broke down in tears twice while describing his health scare.

According to the Entouragestar, the hubbub over sushi making him sick was false. "The biggest misconception was that this all came out of the blue in December and that I came down with this 'sushi-gate' stuff," said Piven. "It's not sushi, it's from eating fish for 20 years and not understanding the mercury threat."

Piven said he hopes the incident won't affect his professional reputation. "I've never missed a day's work or a rehearsal in my life," said Piven. "I think there's a reason you've never heard of any problem like this before."

Piven claimed he was "incredibly sick" since the second week of rehearsals. "At times I was incapable of getting enough oxygen to get my lines out on stage, and sometimes I'd forget where I was in the play," Piven said.

Would he do another Broadway show if asked?

"This is the holy grail for any actor," said Piven. "I kind of can't wait to do it again. And I hope to."