The entertainment industry has seen a number of abuse allegations grab the headlines over the past few months, and now results of investigations conducted on these allegations are slowly coming to light.
The Hollywood Reporter says Meredith Ahr, NBC’s top unscripted executive, has been ousted from the network after an investigation on racist, misogynistic, and homophobic allegations found her behavior, not in line with the company’s standards.
According to the publication, Ahr and Paul Telegdy, NBC’s former entertainment president, both took part in mocking workers. A former NBC executive interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter alleged that Ahr could reduce a staffer to tears and that the executive actively fostered a toxic environment in her division.
Deadline notes that this exit ends Ahr’s 19-year involvement with NBC. She first started working at the station as a Page back in 2001, in charge of taking Saturday Night Live audiences to their seats. She worked her way to Executive Vice President of Alternative Programming for NBC, with her first major success being the development of America’s Got Talent alongside Simon Cowell.
From there, Ahr went on to develop a lot of NBC’s unscripted hits, such as Who Do You Think You Are?, The Voice, Last Comic Standing, American Ninja Warrior, The Biggest Loser, Running Wild With Bear Grylls, The Celebrity Apprentice, and Little Big Shots.
Ahr is just the latest television executive to be investigated for allegations of abuse. Just last month, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish was cleared by investigators after a former employee alleged that he harassed her at a 2016 holiday party.
The allegation came at a sensitive time for ViacomCBS, since CBS’s former CEO Les Moonves was also removed from his position after allegations of sexual harassment and abuse began emerging from multiple women.
After Moonves’ ouster, other bullying and harassment incidents in CBS were brought to light, resulting in the removal of employees like 60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager and 60 Minutes host and CBS This Morning co-host Charlie Rose.
Another famous name that had battled allegations of abuse over the past few months is talk show host Ellen DeGeneres after a Buzzfeed report revealed a toxic workplace environment replete with incidents of racism and sexual harassment. DeGeneres eventually issued an apology during her show.
Entertainment personalities like Peter Lenkov, Lea Michele, and Joss Whedon were also subjected to abuse allegations over the past months.
Lenkov, who used to be the showrunner for the show MacGyver, was accused by lead star Lucas Till of bullying, verbal abuse, and body-shaming. The abuse was reportedly so severe that Till considered taking his own life.
On the other hand, Michele’s Glee co-star Samantha Ware was the one to call out the actress’s behavior, alleging that her time on Glee was made “a living hell” by Michele.
Meanwhile, Ray Fisher’s accusation that fIlm director Joss Whedon was abusive and unprofessional on the set of Justice League has resulted in a still-ongoing investigation.