‘TROUBLING’

Tavis Smiley Accused of Groping Staff, Having Sex With Guests in PBS External Investigation Report

Former host alleged to have had sexual relationships with employees and talk-show guests and engaged in inappropriate touching, according to an external investigator.

Former talk-show host Tavis Smiley allegedly spent decades engaged in sexual relationships with subordinates and guests on his show, and was accused as early as 2000 of a slew of sexual-harassment allegations from lewd jokes to unwanted touching, according to a report by an external investigator hired by PBS.

PBS began an investigation into Smiley in December 2017, after he was dismissed after a 14-year run on the public broadcasting network following “troubling allegations.” The 500-page report was released Friday in a slew of unsealed legal documents filed in relation to lawsuits related to his dismissal.

According to the report, one former employee alleged she was fired for knowing “too much” after Smiley offered to take her to a Victoria’s Secret store, and several female employees admitted to consensual sexual relationships. One former guest also claimed in the report that she was not invited back on the show—despite having sex with Smiley—and one unnamed woman claimed the former host sent her lewd texts asking her to “hook up” after “he had checked her out in her tight pants.” Smiley has denied all the allegations, and claimed he stopped all consensual relationships with Tavis Smiley employees a decade before the allegations surfaced.