Former Catfish cast member Ayissha Morgan has formally filed a police report naming show host Nev Schulman for his alleged sexual misconduct during the filming of her episode back in 2015.
Ayissha flew to Houston, Texas to meet her catfish on the show, and that is where most of the more serious incidents she described in her two-part Youtube account allegedly took place — including the drunken “sexual abuse” that occurred in the production assistant’s hotel room. Ayissha tells The Blast that she spoke with Houston Police on May 25 and filed two police reports stemming from what happened to her while filming the show.
I am assuming that there would be one for Nev’s alleged actions, and another for the production assistant — but that is purely speculation as The Blast does not specify. (They do state very clearly that Ayissha “files police report against Nev Schulman.”)
“I have provided them with my statement and detailed accounts of what I went through,” Ayissha tells the site. “I ask that you please respect my privacy moving forward and allow those who are handling the investigation do so without interference.”
The Blast is told that the Houston Police Department’s Special Crimes Division is handling the investigation. Given that all of Ayissha’s allegations included in her videos appear to have happened while cameras were not rolling, I assume her entire case will depend on whether or not she can get a corroborating witness(es) either to the specific claims, or to a history of similar actions by Nev and/or the production assistant in question.
In case you missed it, MTV suspended production on the current season of Catfish after Ayissha Morgan posted two Youtube videos alleging sexual misconduct by Nev, including aggressive flirting and crass statements like: “I have a big d**k. I would tear your a** up.” (It’s important to remember that Ayissha is openly gay, as she stated repeatedly on the show.)
Ayissha also detailed an evening in which a production assistant she named Carol provided her with a lot of alcohol before suggesting they have a “chugging contest” and later inviting Ayissha back to her hotel room. Ayissha recalls going in and out of consciousness, and at one point Ayissha says she woke up and Carol was on top of her. The video then cuts out and viewers see this message:
I decided not to go into detail about what happened out of respect for myself, and other reasons I cannot explain.This situation is so serious and is nothing to play with. So not only was this hard to film, due to the nature of the allegations, It is not appropriate for all audiences.
Soon after Catfish production was halted, Nev issued this statement:
The behavior described in this video did not happen, and I’m fortunate that there are a number of former colleagues who were present during this time period who are willing to speak up with the truth. I have always been transparent about my life and would always take responsibility for my actions, but these claims are false.
That is all Nev has said about the allegations. He has not posted on Instagram or Twitter since Catfish production stopped, and neither has his wife Laura Perlongo.
Ayissha married her wife Ashley Morgan in July of last year, and she has posted about the alleged sexual misconduct while filming Catfish numerous times before the two most recent videos. She uploaded another Youtube video about her experience on the show back in January, but it only touched on the sexual misconduct briefly. In a Facebook post from the same time, Ayissha mentioned it as she expressed her gratitude for her current wife and for her life seemingly getting back on track:
“I want to thank all of those who have shown me support and gave me validation throughout the last few weeks in sharing my story,” Ayissha told The Blast regarding the last few weeks since she published her videos. “I was fortunate to be able to speak up as an individual through social media and I am thankful to those who listened. I felt empowered to do something about it.”
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm.
