Talk-show host Tavis Smiley was fired back in December over sexual-harassment allegations and now he’s suing, claiming it was all racial.
According to The Washington Post, Tavis claims that the network breached its contract and damaged his production company when they let him go for what they described as “multiple, credible allegations” of workplace misconduct. “I’ve spent the bulk of my career in public media, so filing a lawsuit against PBS was the last thing I wanted to do,” he said. “But litigation seems to be the only way to get at the truth.”
The network has yet to detail the exact allegations, but Variety reported that he had multiple sexual relationships with his employees — something Tavis hasn’t denied over his 30-year career — and some feared their jobs would be at risk if they turned him down.
In the suit, the former “Tavis Smiley” host says the firing was “trumped up” and racial in a nature. It says PBS “hassled Mr. Smiley when he had African American guests who espoused controversial positions, and effectively tried to stop any such guests from appearing.”
There reportedly isn’t a request for damages in the lawsuit, but it alleges the company has lost “multiple millions of dollars” since his termination and had laid off about 20 people.
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