To recap the #MeToo movement across the media landscape, it's exposed CBS This Morning co-host/PBS host Charlie Rose, NBC's Today co-host Matt Lauer, CNN analyst/New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza, and author/NBC political analyst Mark Halperin to name a few. So who will be the next liberal celebrity to lose his career due to allegations of sexual misconduct?
Well, the answer appears to be Tavis Smiley. On Wednesday night, PBS announced it was suspending the talk show host for the same reason as many of his fellow celebrity liberals. Variety provided some of the details of his suspension in PBS Suspends ‘Tavis Smiley’ Following Sexual Misconduct Investigation:
“Effective today, PBS has indefinitely suspended distribution of ‘Tavis Smiley,’ produced by TS Media, an independent production company,” the public broadcaster said. “PBS engaged an outside law firm to conduct an investigation immediately after learning of troubling allegations regarding Mr. Smiley. This investigation included interviews with witnesses as well as with Mr. Smiley. The inquiry uncovered multiple, credible allegations of conduct that is inconsistent with the values and standards of PBS, and the totality of this information led to today’s decision.”
...The investigation found credible allegations that Smiley had engaged in sexual relationships with multiple subordinates, sources said. Some witnesses interviewed expressed concern that their employment status was linked to the status of a sexual relationship with Smiley. In general, witnesses described Smiley as creating a verbally abusive and threatening environment that went beyond what could be expected in a typical high-pressure work environment. Several expressed concerns about retaliation.
...In a February piece in the Observer, Jacques Hyzagi, a former producer on Smiley’s television show, wrote that Smiley’s “misogyny is always creeping around, barely camouflaged by Midwestern good manners.” Hyzagi described Smiley picking up a woman at the Orlando airport and bringing her along on a reporting trip as a “f--- buddy”; alleged that Smiley had a romantic relationship with another producer; and quoted Smiley denigrating PBS executives.
Liberal hypocrisy. How shocking! The question is not if but who will be the next abusive liberal celebrity to be caught up in sexual misconduct allegations?
For those few unaware of the liberal bonafides of Smiley, NewsBusters has a long chronicle of his antics in this matter. Here are a smattering of the Tavis Smiley highlights:
Tavis Smiley and Celeb: We ‘Don’t Want to Be Here in This' Trump 'Madness’
PBS's Smiley and Guest Muse Over 'Self-Loathing' Women Voting for Trump
PBS Host Tavis Smiley Ignores Folk Singer’s Sex Offense History
Tavis Smiley on CNN: 'Racism, Poverty and Militarism' Behind Ferguson Shooting
PBS’s Smiley Sees ‘Tolerance Decreasing’ in America, U.S. Seen as ‘Arrogant, Elitist, Pompous’
Going back farther in the archives to January 2009, then-NewsBusters contributing writer Mark Finkelstein chronicled Smiley declaring on MSNBC's Morning Joe that "[w]e're all working for Barack Obama." Smiley wasn't the only person who spewed liberal venom on his eponymous PBS show as, thanks to it being filmed in Los Angeles, it acted as a home base for far-left celebrities whenver they felt it necessary to, well, vent.
The latter story is rather ironic considering the reason why Smiley is now being headlined in the news.
