UPDATE 5:00 P.M. EST: While it’s been reported Suzie Hardy has filed a police report, Ryan’s lawyer has come out to respond to her damning column.
Andrew Baum shared in a statement:
“After Mr. Seacrest denied each and every one of Ms. Hardy’s decade old claims, after Mr. Seacrest refused to pay Ms. Hardy any money whatsoever, and after an independent legal investigation did not support her claims, Ms. Hardy went to the press attacking the legitimacy of the investigation. Now, after being refused money and unhappy with the independent legal investigation, Ms. Hardy now claims to have spoken to the authorities. We will continue to cooperate and we remain confident that Mr. Seacrest will once again be cleared of any wrongdoing.”
We’ll continue to keep you updated.
The accuser who spoke out against Ryan Seacrest claiming to be the victim of sexual misconduct from the popular Hollywood host is speaking out again, and her message is just as strong as before: she won’t be intimidated.
In an op-ed guest column in The Hollywood Reporter, Suzie Hardy — the personal stylist who first accused Seacrest of sexual misconduct weeks ago — shares more details and describes the fall-out that hit her after her public accusation of the TV man, and it’s time to take her seriously if you weren’t already.
Related: Did Megyn Kelly Cancel On Hardy To Protect Her Parent Company??
Hardy opens the guest column by detailing her close professional relationship with Seacrest in the past, and how nothing happened when she first came forward with her accusations (below):
“It’s been four months since I sent a letter to Ryan Seacrest and E! detailing the sexual assault and harassment I endured while I was Ryan’s personal stylist from 2007 to 2012. To give a little context to my job, I didn’t just style Ryan for the E! News show in studio. I packed clothes for him to wear on American Idol, I traveled with him and styled him for New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in Times Square, I got him ready for red carpet shows for the Grammys, Golden Globes and Oscars. We worked the Disney Christmas Parade every year. I made late-night runs to his house to get his looks together for countless appearances and events. I was his personal stylist as much as I was anything. When the #MeToo movement empowered so many women to come forward with their truths, I did so as well. In response to the letter, E! owner NBC Universal conducted an incomplete investigation of the facts and declared the results ‘inconclusive.’ Ryan chose to immediately author a guest column in The Hollywood Reporter falsely claiming he had been vindicated and attempting to portray himself as the victim. I finally said ‘enough is enough’ and went public with my name and the ugly details of what I endured.
And then ├óΓé¼┬ª nothing. Sure, some celebrities avoided Ryan on the red carpet at the Oscars, and his ratings were way down. But the silence since then has been deafening.”
She’s not wrong!!!
The Oscars red carpet could have been pretty damn awkward for Seacrest, but it was mostly just… a non-factor.
Related: Taraji P. Henson Shuts Down Talk That She Shaded Seacrest At The Oscars!
No consequences for him, as there have been for so many accused men.
She also speaks up about the humiliation she endured at the hands of Seacrest while working at NBC, writing (below):
“Ryan chose to take this public, not me. But I will not stand by silently and let Ryan or the sycophants that employ him get away with this. Not when teenagers, with their voices shaking, can speak up to Congress on gun control. I can face this too! Ryan is not a victim, he is the instigator and the assaulter. He did everything I asserted in my original HR report and in my private letter to him and E! in November. Everyone in Hollywood who stands by Ryan now is choosing not to believe me. That includes every guest on his shows, every studio and network that does business with him, every celebrity who talks to him on a red carpet. Know that this is a choice you are making.
In reliving all these incidents lately, one thing has stuck with me: Ryan seemed to really enjoy humiliating me. He would say out loud, ‘Look how red Suzie’s face is, look how embarrassed she is!” Then he would laugh, like some next-level corporate tool I didn’t even know existed. When your boss is the golden boy of a network, when they’ve given him his own production company and his own show and moved his radio program into the building, and he is motioning for you to bend down and tie his shoes, you do it.
So, joke all you want, Kelly Ripa. NBC and ABC, keep spinning and deflecting. You’re all making a big mistake. And Ryan, stop trying to bully me. It’s not going to work.”
Wow.
Powerful, powerful stuff.
You can read the full guest column HERE.
Thoughts??
[Image via Dennis Van Tine/Future Image/WENN.]
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