Extra host suspended after reports of groping

SEX ASSAULT CLAIMS

A.J. Calloway, a host on the entertainment news show Extra, was suspended by Warner Bros. this past weekend amid a growing number of accusations of sexual misconduct.

In June, The Hollywood Reporter published the account of Sil Lai Abrams, a writer and domestic violence awareness activist, who said Calloway had groped her breast and exposed himself to her in his car in 2006. She said he tried to force her head onto his lap and later masturbated after placing her hand on his lap.

Then in January, The Daily Beast published the accounts of two unnamed women who said that Calloway had also sexually assaulted them.

One of the women said Calloway had lain on top of her after a party at his home and repeatedly tried to open her blouse and pull down her skirt. She said he tried to place her hand on him while he masturbated.

On Saturday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Calloway had been suspended as it was preparing to publish more allegations against him.

“In light of additional allegations brought to our attention, we are expanding our ongoing inquiries, and Mr. Calloway has been suspended pending further review,” Warner Bros. said in a statement.

Calloway could not be reached for comment Saturday. He has previously denied the allegations, and in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, his lawyer, Lisa Davis, said the “unsubstantiated allegations are patently false.”

Calloway has been with Extra since 2005 and has focused on interviewing celebrities around New York City. He had gained fame as the host of the BET music video show 106 & Park, where he began his television career.

Warner Bros. said that when it first became aware of the sexual misconduct allegations, it investigated whether “there had been any misconduct by Mr. Calloway on Extra and whether any employee of the show had been the victim of any such misconduct.”

The company said that as of Saturday, it had not found evidence of workplace misconduct by Calloway. It was unclear how Warner Bros. had expanded its inquiries.

Abrams said in an interview that the company’s response was insufficient and that it appeared to focus on Calloway’s actions in the workplace, instead of his conduct outside of it.

“It shouldn’t take multiple accusations of women going on the record for a company to launch an investigation into the actions of one of their employees,” Abrams said.

She said the company should have acted sooner, especially after her account was published in June. Calloway was arrested after the police investigated Abrams’ 2006 allegation, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which said the case was dismissed on “procedural grounds.”