Garisson Keillor

speaks out about harassment claims.

MINNEAPOLIS — Garrison Keillor described several sexually suggestive emails he exchanged with a former researcher who accused him of sexual misconduct as “romantic writing” that never resulted in a physical relationship, and the radio host rejected the idea that because he was her boss — and the driving force of a hugely popular radio program — it could be sexual harassment.

The woman responded, via her attorney, that Keillor’s power over her job made her afraid to say no to him.

In one of his first extended interviews since Minnesota Public Radio cut ties over the allegations against the former “A Prairie Home Companion” host in November, Keillor said he never had a sexual relationship with the woman, a freelance contributor to the show at the time.

“No button was unbuttoned and no zipper was unzipped,” Keillor told The Associated Press. “I never kissed her. This was a flirtation between two writers that took place in writing.”

The woman said in an emailed response through her attorney that Keillor “had the power to provide or take away job assignments and opportunities. He also acknowledged several times that power imbalance between us, recognizing how his conduct could be offensive when it was coming from the person for whom I work.”

Some were work-related, including details from her research and Keillor’s critiques. But many were personal, sharing details about their families and emotional struggles from their home email accounts, and some were overtly sexual. The tone began changing in 2013, as the pair began sharing more about their lives and signing off by saying they loved and missed each other. By 2014 and 2015, the emails became more amorous. They both shared wishes or fantasies of being intimate, sometimes in detail. In one July 20, 2015, email, Keillor wrote of his desire to reach into the woman’s blouse and hold her breast in his hand. Keillor was married at the time and still is.

“I agree that there are adolescent passages in there, but there were some by her and some by me,” Keillor told the AP.

Until his downfall in 2016, Keillor, 75, entertained millions weekly on “A Prairie Home Companion.”