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Ryan Seacrest
- Ryan Seacrest's former stylist, Suzie Hardy, has accused him of sexual harassment and assault.
- NBCUniversal had previously investigated the claims and said it found "insufficient evidence."
- Hardy said she believed the investigator was "whitewashing it for Seacrest's side."
Ryan Seacrest's former stylist has accused him of sexual harassment and assault, and has gone to the press with detailed allegations.
Suzie Hardy worked as Seacrest's stylist for "E! News" from 2006-2014. A November letter from Hardy's attorney to E!'s corporate parent, NBCUniversal, outlined Hardy's allegations of harassment and assault, according to Variety.
In the letter, Hardy and her attorneys alleged that while under Seacrest's employment, he grinded his erect penis on her while in his underwear, grabbed her by the vagina, and one time slapped her bottom, leaving a visible welt, Variety reported.
Seacrest has repeatedly denied Hardy's claims.
Hardy said she reported Seacrest's alleged actions to human resources in 2013.
"I was in there for hours," she said to Variety. "I told them everything."
Hardy told Variety that two weeks later, she was informed by E! that her contract would be ending.
In the letter sent in November, Hardy's attorney asked E! to "come up with a plan to address the treatment of all women at the networks and to take responsibility for the wrongful treatment" of Hardy. A week later, Seacrest took the allegation public, announcing in a statement that E! was investigating a misconduct claim against him made by "someone that worked as a wardrobe stylist for me nearly a decade ago at E! News."
Seacrest called her allegations "reckless."
Three months later, E! said in a statement that its investigation had concluded and found "insufficient evidence to support the claims against Seacrest." The investigation was conducted by an independent investigator hired by NBCUniversal.
"Total exasperation was my definite feeling when I heard about it," Hardy told Variety. She was interviewed three times by the independent investigator, she said. "I felt like by the third interview, it was obvious the investigator was whitewashing it for Seacrest's side."
A spokesperson for E! told Variety, "Any claims that question the legitimacy of this investigation are completely baseless."
Seacrest denied Hardy's claims. In a statement sent to Variety, Seacrest's lawyer said:
"It is upsetting to us that Variety is electing to run a 'story' about untrue allegations that were made against my client, after they were told that the accuser threatened to make those false claims against him unless he paid her $15 million. At that time, the claimant threatened to issue a demonstrably false press statement unless she was paid. Instead, my client proactively and publicly denied the claims and agreed to fully cooperate with E!'s investigation about the matter."