Ryan Seacrest: Celebs Will Reportedly Dodge Him On Oscars Carpet After Sexual Harassment Claims
February 28, 2018
Ryan Seacrest: Celebs Will Reportedly Dodge Him On Oscars Carpet After Sexual Harassment Claims
Stars are reportedly planning to avoid E!’s Ryan Seacrest on the 2018 Oscars red carpet over sexual misconduct claims against him. We’ve got the details.
The Oscars red carpet is always Ryan Seacrest‘s biggest night of the year to shine. But it could be a really awkward one on March 4 as some Hollywood stars are reportedly going to avoid talking to him during E!’s coverage after his former stylist came forward on Feb. 26 with lurid accusations of sexual misconduct by the TV host. While the network launched an investigation into her claims and found “insufficient evidence,” that still might not be enough in these Time’s Up days. Page Six reports that a number of publicists plan to have their star clients either do their interviews with his co-host Giuliana Rancic, 43, or just skip talking to E! altogether.
“Usually Ryan is the one you want…but there are so many outlets on that carpet, why risk it? There’s plenty of other places for clients to get the exposure,” one PR powerhouse told the site. Another said that it would depend on who their talent is, but that they would have any client who has participated in the #MeToo movement purposefully avoid Ryan. “If it was a [client who had been involved in the #MeToo movement], I would never put them in that position. I don’t think any smart person would,” another top publicist told Page Six.
Our sister site Variety published the account of Ryan’s former stylist Suzie Hardy, who alleged that among other things the American Idol host grinded his erect penis against her while wearing just his underwear, groped her vagina and slapped her butt so hard that it left a large welt visible hours later. E! had an outside counsel investigate the matter for two months beginning in Nov. of 2017 and ultimately found there was insufficient evidence to back up her allegations. The normally talkative host didn’t address her claims on Live! With Kelly and Ryan on Feb. 27 but later in the day issued a lengthy statement.
“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,” Ryan said in a statement obtained by The Wrap. “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.” You can read his full statement here. But now that the details of what he was accused of are out there, it might be hard for some stars to ignore come Oscars Sunday.
Suzie has since fired back at Ryan’s statement, telling Variety late on Feb. 27 that “I was emboldened by the bravery of others to finally and confidentially tell my story to NBC. Ryan elected to take the story public with a false narrative that he was exonerated and the victim of some sort of money grab. He is not the victim, and I refuse to let him victimize me for telling the truth.”
HollywoodLifers, do you think a lot of stars will avoid talking to Ryan on the Oscars red carpet?