Kelly Ripa Defends Ryan Seacrest During 'Live with Kelly and Ryan'
American Hollywood personality Ryan Seacrest recently received tremendous support from "Live" co-host Kelly Ripa — following the news of sexual abuse allegations from a former stylist against him. As of now, the entertainment industry is still unsure on whether to allow Seacrest to continue his obligations as radio host and, more importantly, his coverage duties for the upcoming Oscars.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Ripa made an endorsement toward the 43-year-old host by stating that "you are a privilege to work with," followed by claiming that she is speaking for every one of the crew members of the show. Ripa further described Seacrest as somebody who is very easy to work with and as a "professional."
Additionally, Ripa stated that she enjoys working with Seacrest, to which he responded by saying that she is "happiness."
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This marks the first time that Ripa has defended her co-host on live television. It is important to note that Ripa also mentioned that she is excited to see Seacrest on the red carpet, as the person in charge of covering the Oscars for the E! network. However, there are now lingering doubts that Seacrest may not be able to do so in light of the allegations by Suzie Hardy — his accuser.
In November of last year, Hardy sent a legal letter to the higher ups at the E! network, letting the company know of Seacrest's alleged crimes towards her.
However, the letter was only made public last Monday, Feb. 26, through an article published by Variety, which detailed some of the sexual allegations made by Seacrest, according to Hardy. The former stylist stated that the abuse went on for about seven years, and was afraid to lose her job since she had to financially support her daughter.
Seacrest has denied all the allegations, and even made a claim of his own by saying that Hardy offered to retract her accusations if the host pays her a significant amount of money.
