Warner Bros severs ties with TV host accused of assault
Warner Bros has severed ties with US television host A.J. Calloway following an investigation into sexual assault allegations, the studio said on Thursday.
Calloway was initially suspended in February after multiple women accused him of assaulting them in an article published by the Daily Beast website.
“The Company has investigated the claims made into Mr. Calloway’s conduct and he and the Company have mutually agreed to part ways,” Warner Bros said in a statement sent to AFP.
Calloway had for more than a decade co-hosted Warner Bros’ entertainment magazine show “Extra,” which covers showbiz, celebrity and Hollywood news and gossip.
He was first publicly accused by former model turned writer and activist Sil Lai Abrams in June last year.
“It took way too long, but @ WarnerMediaGrp FINALLY took the sexual assault and rape claims about A.J. Calloway made by me and other women seriously,” Abrams tweeted following news of Calloway’s departure.
“Never stop fighting for what you believe in. #MeToo.”
Calloway, 44, has denied all the claims against him.
His representatives did not immediately respond to request for comment on Thursday.
Following his suspension in February, Calloway’s attorney issued a statement to US media calling the allegations “unsubstantiated” and “patently false.”
“He vehemently denies that he ever assaulted anyone and looks forward to clearing his name,” the statement read.
It is the latest chapter in Hollywood’s reckoning over sexual assault and harassment, which has already seen television icon Bill Cosby jailed, with movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s trial set to begin in September. — AFP
The Company has investigated the claims made into Mr. Calloway’s conduct and he and the Company have mutually agreed to part ways.
Warner Bros