Will Ryan Seacrest Be Pulled from Oscars Coverage?
by EG
American Idol host Ryan Seacrest is still reeling from allegations of sexual misconduct made by a former stylist, and the fallout may affect his coverage of the Oscars this weekend. E! News' parent company, NBCUniversal, is reportedly trying to figure out how to handle the situation. The most likely solution, sources say, is that the network will have Seacrest conduct pre-taped interviews with friendly stars who can be trusted not to say anything controversial.
Via Page Six.
Crisis meetings were going on at NBCUniversal on Wednesday over Ryan Seacrest and his ability to seamlessly cover the Oscars red carpet for its E! network following fresh allegations of sexual harassment.
Page Six reported Tuesday that Hollywood publicists are saying behind the scenes that they will steer many of their stars away from Seacrest at Sunday’s awards, after Variety reported that he subjected a personal stylist to “years of unwanted sexual aggression.”
Seacrest has strongly denied the allegations against him, and E! parent NBCUniversal has said that it’s sticking with Seacrest as its red-carpet host.
Seacrest insists that an investigation by NBCUniversal into the claims cleared him of any wrongdoing, and that the former employee was shaking him down for money.
Variety revealed Monday, in an interview with stylist Suzie Hardy, that Seacrest allegedly abused her by, among other things, “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.”
But even though Seacrest will appear on the E! pre-awards extravaganza Sunday, sources tell us that producers will prearrange his interviews on the carpet with friendly stars who won’t surprise him with uncomfortable comments.
Get the rest of the story at Page Six.
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