Former Lead GMA Producer Sued By ABC Staffer Alleging Sexual Assault (Updated)

ABC News staffer Kirstyn Crawford is suing Michael Corn, Good Morning America’s former top producer, for sexual assault — also alleging he fostered a toxic work environment.

As first reported by the Wall Street Journal’s Joe Flint, Crawford — a producer for the morning show’s co-anchor George Stephanopoulos — filed the suit in New York state court Wednesday, alleging that Corn assaulted her during a 2015 business trip to Los Angeles.

“In the suit, she alleges that an inebriated Mr. Corn assaulted her during a trip to Los Angeles in 2015 to cover the Academy Awards. During an Uber ride back to their hotel after a party, Mr. Corn forcibly touched Ms. Crawford, kissing her head and rubbing her legs, telling her he wanted to help her with her career, according to the suit. As a producer, Ms. Crawford worked under Mr. Corn,” Flint reported.

“When they got to the hotel, Ms. Crawford brought Mr. Corn Advil in his room, at his request, according to the suit. He asked her to sit on the bed, which she did because she feared if she said no he would “lash out” at her, the suit says. Mr. Corn grabbed her arm and pulled her head onto his chest and began kissing the top of her head, the suit says, adding that she was able to pull away after a few minutes and left for her room.”

The lawsuit also claims that Corn, who Flint described as “one of the most powerful people in television news,” also sexually assaulted former ABC producer Jill McClain — who is not a plaintiff in the suit but supports Crawford. The filing, according to the Journal reporter, alleges that Corn groped McClain and rubbed her vagina through her jeans on a red-eye flight in 2010.

ABC is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, as Crawford claimed the company received yet failed to act on complaints regarding Corn’s misconduct from several women for roughly a decade.

While ABC officials were aware of Crawford’s allegations in 2017, according to the suit, they did not conduct an investigation into Corn until after both Crawford and McClain filed formal complaints this February. Corn, now working at Nexstar Media Group as the president of NewsNation, left ABC two months later without a reason for his exit.

Flint also reported that Stephanopoulos was made aware of the alleged assault and notified ABC lawyer Tanya Menton, as well as Derek Medina, a senior executive at Good Morning America, and Heather Riley, then a publicist for the program.

“Crawford decided not to speak with Ms. Menton after a conversation with Ms. Riley, who told her reporting the assault and harassment might get ‘messy,’ according to the suit,” Flint wrote. “Ms. Crawford feared a formal complaint would ‘do more harm than good or even result in losing her job.'”

Diane Sawyer a former anchor on World News Tonight where Corn also worked as an executive producer, was reportedly made aware of McClain’s alleged assault, and advised that she inform both ABC and Menton.

Update —  August 25, 2021, 1:48 p.m. ET: A spokeswoman for ABC denied the allegation in a statement to the WSJ, saying, “We are committed to upholding a safe and supportive work environment and have a process in place that thoroughly reviews and addresses complaints that are made. ABC News disputes the claims made against it and will address this matter in court.”

Corn also “vehemently” denied the allegations that he “engaged in improper sexual contact with another woman,” according to Deadline.

“Kirsten Crawford’s claims are demonstrably false—and I am providing contemporaneous emails to prove it. Hours after the supposed incident, Ms. Crawford offered to bring me coffee and breakfast to my hotel room and asked for my hotel room number because she didn’t know it—the very same room where she now claims this incident occurred,” he said in a statement via Deadline. “The same day, she repeatedly offered for me to share a car with her. And the same day she emailed me, after I helped counsel her through a work problem, ‘why are you so great?’ These are not the words and actions of a woman who had been assaulted hours before.”

“I will be pursing all available legal remedies against these women and defending myself vigorously,” he added.