Ryan Seacrest's Former Personal Stylist Reveals Details Of Her Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Former personal stylist Suzie Hardy finally released the details about the sexual abuse allegations that she filed against TV host Ryan Seacrest.
Speaking with Variety on Monday, Hardy recalled how she landed a dream job as Seacrest's personal stylist at E! News back in 2007. The single mother mentioned that aside from the good pay, the job also allowed her to personally take care of her preschool-age daughter at that time.
Based on a letter that was sent by Hardy's lawyer to Seacrest, their employer E! entertainment channel, and NBCUniversal, she started having struggles in her job when Seacrest began to subject her to unwanted sexual aggression over the years. She claimed that there were several instances when he was grinding his erect penis against her while he was only wearing his underwear more than 10 times, groped her vagina multiple times, and roughly slapped her buttocks which caused it to have a large welt that can be seen for several hours.
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The letter also stated that she opted to endure all the abuses for several years since she needed her salary to care for her daughter. But her employment ended in 2013 when she reported Seacrest's abuses to E!'s human-resources executives.
The complaints were not discussed in public at that time, but Seacrest released a statement denying the "reckless allegations" and claimed that he is willing to cooperate in any investigation about the case.
An E! spokesperson told Fox News that a third party investigator was hired to look into the case, and concluded that there was not enough evidence that could back up Hardy's claims. "Over the course of a two month process, our outside counsel interviewed more than two dozen people regarding the allegations, including multiple separate meetings with the claimant and all firsthand witnesses that she provided. The investigator is an attorney with nearly 20 years experience and is highly regarded professionally. Any claims that question the legitimacy of this investigation are completely baseless," the network spokesperson stated.
Seacrest's lawyer Andrew Baum also told Fox that Hardy was asking for $15 million to keep quiet, that is why the "American Idol" host decided to be the first one to talk about the sexual abuse allegations. "At that time, the claimant threatened to issue a demonstrably false press statement unless she was paid," the statement of Seacrest's lawyer reads. "Instead, my client proactively and publicly denied the claims and agreed to fully cooperate with E!'s investigation about the matter."
On the other hand, Hardy's legal team claimed that there is no evidence that could prove that she was only accusing him of sexual abuses to get money.
