Letter Accusing Ryan Seacrest of ‘Years of Unwanted Sexual Aggression’ is Released
Allegations of impropriety against American Idol host Ryan Seacrest have emerged again.
Variety, obtained a letter from Seacrest’s former personal stylist Suzie Hardy accusing the radio and television personality of sexually harassing her over a period of years. The allegations have been out there for months with Seacrest stating that she was trying to extort him for $15 million.
The latest report focuses on a letter:
[A]ccording to the November letter from Hardy’s attorney addressed to cable channel E!, its corporate parent NBCUniveral, and Seacrest, the job became an ordeal as Seacrest subjected Hardy to years of unwanted sexual aggression — grinding his erect penis against her while clad only in his underwear, groping her vagina, and at one point slapping her buttock so hard that it left a large welt still visible hours later.
She said that she took the abuse from Seacrest for several years because she needed to keep her job in order to provide for her daughter. She said it only ended after she reported Seacrest’s actions in 2013 to human resources executives, which led to her employment with E! coming to an end.
Variety obtained a copy of a November letter from Hardy’s lawyer and spoke with her on several occasions. She told the magazine that the abuse she allegedly suffered at Seacrest’s hands “really affected” her.
This past November, he came forward to announce that E! was looking into a misconduct claim, calling the accusations “reckless.” It would seem the letter has been released in response to E! completing a legal review that found “insufficient evidence” to support her claims.
UPDATE –– 2/27, 6:57 pm ET: Seacrest has responded in a statement. Per THR:
Much has been said about the #MeToo and Times Up movement(s) and the importance of providing women and men with the opportunity to share their stories of workplace misconduct, in an effort to change our culture and the systemic inequalities that exist. I absolutely support this cause unequivocally and applaud all the brave souls who have come forward to share their stories.
Sadly, last fall I became one of the accused, which I promptly revealed proactively to the network involved and to the public. And to be equally clear, those accusations were then investigated by an independent third-party over the course of a two-month process and involved dozens of interviews that included me, the accuser and countless others. Ultimately, my name was cleared. I eagerly participated in the investigation in order to demonstrate my innocence because I know my truth, and I believe in due process.
Yesterday, Variety published a salacious story that revealed the specific claims against me for the first time — even though an independent third-party investigator found insufficient evidence to support the claims. Much to my dismay, Variety didn’t speak with me or bother to speak with other credible witnesses or even ask for any of the evidence that was obtained during the investigation when offered, all of which clearly challenged the veracity of the claims made against me.
This person who has accused me of horrible things offered, on multiple occasions, to withdraw her claims if I paid her millions of dollars. I refused. I have worked extremely hard to achieve my success and I don’t take my opportunities for granted. I don’t want to accuse anyone of not telling the truth but in this case, I have no choice but to again deny the claims against me, remind people that I was recused of any wrongdoing, and put the matter to rest.
[image via Getty Images]
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