Allegation puts shadow on Seacrest for Oscars
HARASSMENT CLAIM
Earlier this month, television personality Ryan Seacrest released a pre-emptive statement denying a coming sexual misconduct allegation. As Deadline reported the accuser- to- be was asking for a “substantial amount of money to keep quiet,” Seacrest dubbed the yet-to-be-released claims, “reckless.”
After receiving a letter from Suzie Hardy, Seacrest’s former wardrobe stylist, detailing years of sexual harassment, E!, the network for which Seacrest hosts E! News and produces countless series ( including Keeping Up with the Kardashians), conducted an internal investigation and found “insufficient evidence” of any wrongdoing.
However, on Monday, the letter and details of Hardy’s allegations were made public. Via Variety, Hardy accuses Seacrest of “grinding his erect penis against her while clad only in his underwear, groping her vagina, and at one point slapping her buttock so hard that it left a large welt still visible hours later.” He also asked her to “nap” with him and regularly gave her hugs in his underwear. Seacrest would also, allegedly, invite her to his home at late hours, once asking her over late at night to tie a necktie for him.
At one point, she recalled him asking her if she would sue him over the first groping incident, to which she replied, “not if I stay employed.” Hardy said she put up with the abuse for years because she needed to provide for her daughter. But after reporting his behaviour to human resources in 2013, she says she was promptly fired.
The letter also asks Seacrest and the network to “come up with a plan to address the treatment of all women at the networks and to take responsibility for the wrongful treatment” of Hardy, otherwise threatening “more formal action.”
In a statement to Variety, E! reiterated that their investigation was “extremely comprehensive and thorough,” and that Hardy’s claims are “completely baseless.” Seacrest’s lawyer, meanwhile, said Hardy had threatened to make her claims public if he didn’t pay her $15 million. Hardy denies ever having made this threat.
Seacrest, who now cohosts Live with Kelly and Ryan (and is set to return as host for the upcoming season of American Idol), is a red carpet mainstay for just about every awards show. However, with the Oscars set to air this weekend, there is some question as to whether he will be taking part.
Scandal s t ar Bellamy Young was the first to suggest it may be time for Seacrest to hang up his hat: “I think this is the time to step aside and let someone of equal talent that is beyond reproach to be in charge.” She added, “I know it feels like the rules have changed, so I’m sure people who have been in dominant positions are taken by surprise. Now that someone is asking, do you consent? And we get to say no, people have to accept our no and step aside.”
On Tuesday’s Live with Kelly and Ryan, no mention was made of the allegations.