Monday longterm sexual abuse allegations towards Ryan Seacrest from his E! News stylist of seven years came to light. Variety obtained a copy of a letter Hardy sent to E! November 2017 detailed alleged incidents of abuse and interviewed the accuser, Suzie Hardy, who says she took the job because it offered good pay and a schedule that allowed her to pick up her child most days from preschool, but says soon found herself to be the victim of sexual aggression. Today Ryan Seacrest has responded to the allegations and he denies them all. He even makes allegations of his own: Hardy has been trying to get him to “buy her silence.”
According to the report Hardy says Seacrest grabbed her crotch on multiple occasions and at one point jumped on top of her in a hotel room when he was sexually aroused. Hardy says she was promptly fired when she brought her incidents of sexual abuse to the attention of E!’s human resources department in 2013. Last November Seacrest spoke out about this situation when he received a letter from Hardy’s attorney threatening legal action if they didn’t “come up with a plan to address the treatment of all women at the networks and to take responsibility for the wrongful treatment” of Hardy. He denied allegations at that time and continues to do so.
“Much has been said about the #MeToo and Time’s 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,” he told Page Six.
“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 accused 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.”
Seacrest added that Variety did not ask to speak to him before they published their story, and revealed that Hardy asked Seacrest for money on multiple occasions to “buy her silence.”
“I don’t want to accuse anyone of not telling the truth but in this case,” Seacrest continued. “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.”
Seacrest will still host Oscar coverage for E! despite these allegations.
