Ryan Seacrest to Host E! Oscars Red Carpet Despite Sexual Harassment Claims

Suzie Hardy, who worked as Seacrest’s personal stylist on E! News from 2007 to 2013, told Variety that she was subjected to years of aggressive sexual misconduct and assault by Seacrest while on the job, including alleged incidents where Seacrest “grinded his erect penis against her while clad only in his underwear,” groped her vagina twice on set, and once slapped her on on the butt hard enough that it left a welt still visible many hours later. Hardy says that she reported Seacrest’s behavior to E!’s human resources department in 2013, then was subsequently let go from her position.

In November of last year, Hardy outlined years of sexual abuse by the network star to E! through a letter written by her lawyer, Variety reports. The letter—which alleged that Seacrest gave Hardy unwanted hugs while wearing only his underwear more than 10 times—urged the network to “come up with a plan to address the treatment of all women at the network and to take responsibility for the wrongful treatment.” If not, Hardy would pursue “more formal action,” the letter warned.

Following Hardy’s then-internal claims to E! in November, Seacrest preemptively released a statement making the basic allegations public, calling them “reckless,” and denying them while also announcing that the network was conducting and investigation with which he was cooperating.

On February 1, E! announced that after a two-month investigation conducted by an independent counsel, the network found “insufficient evidence to substantiate allegations against Seacrest.” In her interview with Variety, Hardy claimed that E!’s internal investigation failed to interview four witnesses, stating: “It was obvious that the investigator was whitewashing it for Seacrest’s side.” E! has since responded in a statement to Variety, calling Hardy’s claims that the investigation was flawed “completely baseless.”

On February 5, Seacrest wrote an op-ed for the Hollywood Reporter titled, “What Happened After I was Wrongly Accused of Harassment,” in which the host described the allegations against him as “gut-wrenching.” Since Monday, Seacrest’s attorney has also claimed that Hardy asked for a $15 million dollar payout for her silence, which Hardy’s attorney has denied.

Although news of Hardy’s allegations spread fast after being published on Monday, Seacrest did not acknowledge the allegations on the Tuesday edition of his syndicated morning show, Live with Kelly and Ryan.

This Sunday, Seacrest will be front and center as E!’s Oscars red carpet host, a role that he has held every year since 2006. E!’s decision to keep Seacrest comes on the heels of its recent red carpet call-out over pay inequality.

During E!’s live Golden Globes red carpet coverage earlier this year, actress Debra Messing called out the network’s history of unequal pay in an interview with host Giuliana Rancic, citing the fact that former E! host Catt Sadler left the network after learning her male co-host, Jason Kennedy, made twice as much as her. In response, Frances Berwick, who oversees E! as president of NBCUniversal’s lifestyle networks, claimed that Sadler and Berwick “had different roles and therefore different salaries.” She added: “Our employees’ salaries are based on their roles and their expertise, regardless of gender.”

Earlier this month, in an essay for The Coveteur, Sadler elaborated on her departure from the network, writing, “I didn’t start out on a crusade to be a voice for gender equality in the workplace… For me, at that time, it started out as simply ‘the right thing to do,’” adding, “It was important to explain how I had been wronged and how I knew in my core that to stay would mean collaborating with an evil system.” Sadler concluded her essay with a call to arms: “This isn’t about one person or a few—it’s about us. It’s about holding each other up as sisters, challenging the status quo, and refusing to accept less than what we deserve.”

Broadly has reached out to E! and Times Up for comment.