Ryan Seacrest, the popular TV and radio personality and host of American Idol has been accused of years of sexual abuse by E! stylist Suzie Hardy. Hardy was a single mom with a daughter when she was employed to be Seacrest’s personal stylist in 2006 according to Variety . The single mom told Variety that the pay was great and the job suited her schedule. However, what was a dream job for Hardy turned out to be years of torment in the hands of Seacrest according to the stylist. In a letter from Suzie Hardy’s attorney to E! in November, the stylist says that the job became difficult because of the years of unwanted sexual abuse by the TV personality.
In the report on Variety , Hardy gives graphic details of the abuse and exploitation she endured. The stylist alleges that Seacrest rubbed his erect privates against her with only his underwear, groped her vagina, and even slapped her buttock, “leaving a large welt” that was visible for hours. The stylist also claims that she continued with the job amid the harassments in order to provide for her daughter. The former E! stylist claims that the sexual abuse ended in 2013 when she reported Seacrest to Human Resources executives after which her employment was terminated. After her termination, she says she never saw Seacrest again according to IndieWire .
The detail of the sexual abuse and exploitation by Seacrest is contained in the letter from Hardy’s attorney. The graphic detail of sexual harassment and assault described in the letter is corroborated by Hardy when she spoke to Variety .
“As proud as I am and as strong as a woman as I am, as smart as I am and as much work as I’ve done with therapists, it really affected me”
After E! received the letter on November 10, an independent investigation was carried out against Seacrest. However, the stylist felt the investigation was biased and in favor of Seacrest. According to Hardy, the investigator didn’t get in touch with the four witnesses she mentioned to support her claims.
Suzie Hardy details years of unwanted sexual harassment and assault allegedly perpetrated by Ryan Seacrest over the years she was his stylist https://t.co/ksG6tmwwZD pic.twitter.com/0t2bvOtV7i
— Variety (@Variety) February 26, 2018
Seacrest’s attorney, Andrew Baum, accused Hardy of attempting to blackmail the TV show host of $15 million according to Variety . Hardy’s attorney informed Variety that there was no request for money from Seacrest or the network as suggested by Baum.
“She was shocked and insulted when, following the E! investigation, the Hollywood Reporter published a guest column under the headline ‘What Happened After I Was Wrongly Accused of Harassment,’ in which Seacrest wrote that ‘an independent third party found the claims to be unsubstantiated and that there was no evidence of wrongdoing on my part.’”
Suzie Hardy worked as Seacrest’s stylist at E! from 2006 to 2013. The independent investigation carried out by E! alleges that there was no evidence to indict Seacrest of any wrongdoing. The former E! stylist was emboldened to speak up after the Weinstein incidents and the #MeToo movement.