One of Ryan Seacrest’s former stylists came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against the famous TV personality earlier this week, Variety reports, prompting Seacrest to issue a lengthy statement denying the rumors to BuzzFeed News on Tuesday evening.
In an extensive letter to Variety via her attorney, Suzie Hardy alleged that Seacrest subjected her to sexual misconduct and harassment while at work that varied from grabbing her vagina, grinding his erect penis against her and even leaving visible marks after smacking her butt.
“As proud as I am and as strong as a woman as I am, as smart as I am and as much work as I’ve done with therapists, it really affected me,” Hardy told Variety about her experience working for Seacrest.
USA Today reports that Hardy’s attorney had previously prompted E! to conduct a formal investigation into the allegations. Though E! stated that their “investigation was extremely comprehensive and thorough,” after only two months of investigation the network said they concluded that Hardy’s accusations are “completely baseless.” Then, two weeks later, Hardy says she was fired.
Seacrest’s attorney also gave statement to Variety, criticizing their decision to run the story on the allegations in the first place: “It is upsetting to us that Variety is electing to run a ‘story’ about untrue allegations that were made against my client, after they were told that the accuser threatened to make those false claims against him unless he paid her $15 million. At that time, the claimant threatened to issue a demonstrably false press statement unless she was paid. Instead, my client proactively and publicly denied the claims and agreed to fully cooperate with E!’s investigation about the matter.”
According to Page Six, he avoided Hardy’s latest claims during his Tuesday segment on ABC’s “Live with Kelly and Ryan.” Instead of commenting on Hardy’s reports, Seacrest kicked off his show with some riveting commentary about his painful experience getting his teeth whitened. Entertainment Weekly adds that Seacrest didn’t acknowledge any sexual misconduct accusations at any point during his show.
However, shortly after his segment (and the media coverage that followed) Seacrest addressed Hardy’s claims directly: “I don’t want to accuse anyone of not telling the truth but in this case, I have no choice but to again deny the claims against me, remind people that I was recused of any wrongdoing, and put the matter to rest,” he said in a statement BuzzFeed.
Ryan Seacrest is speaking out after being accused of sexual harassment, saying the woman offered to withdraw her claims “on multiple occasions” if he paid her millions of dollars https://t.co/SZXYcTt2ab pic.twitter.com/CF8nF2SNaf
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) February 27, 2018
On Wednesday, Hardy again gave a statement to Variety, challenging Seacrest’s public attempts to discredit her story: “I remained quiet for years out of fears that my story wouldn’t be believed and that I would be subject to scorn and ridicule for telling it. I was emboldened by the bravery of others to finally and confidentially tell my story to NBC. [Seacrest] elected to take the story public with a false narrative that he was exonerated and the victim of some sort of money grab. He is not the victim, and I refuse to let him victimize me for telling the truth.”
This incident isn’t the first time that NBC (or its subsidiaries and its hosts) have been in the spotlight for problematic reasons. The allegations against Seacrest also come after it took years for NBC News’ Matt Lauer to finally be reprimanded for allegations of sexual misconduct.
Seacrest is still scheduled to host E!’s coverage of the Oscars’ red carpet. Although Seacrest tells BuzzFeed that he “eagerly participated in the investigation in order to demonstrate my innocence because I know my truth, and I believe in due process,” certain industry professionals are calling for him to “step aside” from his duties at the Oscars. Although it’s unlikely that Seacrest will forego his role at the Oscars, he could still face some backlash for his appearance. Because advocates for the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements will likely be prominent figures at the Oscars and haven’t been holding back when the camera’s are rolling, Seacrest may be able to expect some precarious questions from the stars at the show.