ABC cancels episode of ‘Proposal’ featuring man from Milwaukee

Contestant accused of facilitating sex assault

“The Proposal” airs after “The Bachelor” at 9 p.m. Mondays. ABC said that Michael Friday was eliminated in the first round.

ABC has canceled an episode of its new reality show “The Proposal” featuring a Milwaukee man who has been accused of facilitating a sexual assault. The episode was set to air June 25.

Michael Friday was one of 10 contestants competing “pageant-style” for one person on the show, a spinoff of ABC’s hit “The Bachelor.”

Erica Denae Meshke, who is not part of the show, posted about the alleged assault on Facebook on Thursday, which drew attention on social media and eventually made its way to the network.

Michael Friday could not be reached for comment.

In a joint statement, ABC and Warner Horizon Television said, “An allegation has been made against a contestant on next week’s episode of ‘The Proposal.’ While the accusation was not related to the contestant’s appearance on the program, we take it very seriously. ABC and the producers of ‘The Proposal’ are pulling the episode while this matter is under review.”

“The Proposal” airs after “The Bachelor” at 9 p.m. Mondays. ABC said that Friday was eliminated in the first round.

Meshke described the interaction in her post on Facebook.

She said she met Friday through Tinder. He invited her to the lobby of Diamond Tower Condominiums. Meshke said Friday was there with two older male friends. They poured her a drink, then Friday left.

“While I waited, I accepted another drink, which I know now was spiked,” she said her in Facebook post. She was then taken upstairs by one of the men and assaulted.

“I now firmly believe that Michael Friday knowingly and willfully lured me into that apartment lobby with the intention of assisting the older man ... in a sexual assault scheme,” Meshke said in an email.

“As of right now, four women have come forward (to Meshke) and claimed they were all drugged and raped by Michael Friday firsthand,” she said.

The cases have not been reported to police, she said.

Korina Sonina, 24, also met Friday through Tinder.

She agreed to meet him in February at Jo-Cats Pub on Brady Street. She also thinks she was drugged. She described the incident, saying she had a couple of drinks.

“All of a sudden, I’m really drunk, and I’m like I want to go to bed,” she said.

Sonina said that Friday offered to take her to his house, where he assaulted her. Sonina said she was falling asleep and he started taking off her clothes. She said no, but couldn’t fight back.

“Definitely not consensual on my part,” Sonina said.

In an email exchange, Meshke expressed appreciation for ABC’s response to her allegation.

“I went into it with zero expectations. I figured a few people from the Milwaukee area would see it and share it, so that other women in the area could be warned. I never imagined it would receive such a wide wave of attention,” she said in the email. “If anything, it was more for myself, as a therapeutic way of finally sharing my story, after so many months of keeping it buried.”

Meshke also said she had received mostly positive support after speaking up on social media.

“The amount of support I’ve received from the people of Milwaukee, and nationwide, is astonishing. I’ve received so much outreach, and without this solidarity, I would not have been strong enough to continue pursuing this cause.”