Frazer Harrison/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — On Thursday, Gabrielle Union filed a harassment lawsuit against NBC and the production behind America’s Got Talent.
A statement from the actress’ attorney, Bryan Freedman, explained why she is suing the Comcast-owned network, along with Freemantle Productions, Simon Cowell and his entertainment company Syco.
The statement begins, “When Gabrielle Union informed NBC of racially offensive conduct during the taping of America’s Got Talent, NBC did not ‘stand’ with her in ‘outrage at acts of racism.’ Instead, NBC did not care enough to either promptly investigate Ms. Union’s complaints or even ask HR to get involved.”
“Rather, NBC stood against her and directed its ‘outrage’ at Ms. Union for whistleblowing about the racially offensive conduct she experienced while working for NBC on America’s Got Talent,” the statement continued.
“In sharp contrast to NBC’s recent statement on race, what was truly an ‘outrage’ was the fact that Paul Telegdy, Chairman of NBC Entertainment, actually threatened Ms. Union in an attempt to silence her from telling the truth about racist actions that took place on the show. There is no place for this type of racial bullying in the workplace, and it is going to take more than a Tweet from NBC to demonstrate that NB intends to create an environment free from racism,” the statement concluded.
One day prior to Union’s filing, NBC denied any wrong-doing against the former America’s Got Talent judge.
“The allegation that anyone involved in this process threatened Ms. Union is categorically untrue,” the network said in a statement on Wednesday.
Union was a judge on America’s Got Talent for its fourteenth season. The show did not ask her to return for another season, which Union claims is due to her speaking up about racism. By Danielle LongCopyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
