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oberliner

(58,724 posts)
Fri Jan 4, 2019, 05:22 PM Jan 2019

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Is Canceled (for Now) Amid His #MeToo Reckoning

National Geographic is pulling celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson off the air—at least for a little while—Variety reported on Thursday.

His pop culture and science talk show StarTalk is on hiatus while Fox Networks investigates multiple claims of sexual misconduct against Tyson. A representative for Nat Geo told Variety that they expect to wrap up the investigation and make a final decision in the next few weeks.

Tyson’s #MeToo reckoning began in a real way in late November, when two women came forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior. In a report by David McAfee for the website Patheos, Dr. Katelyn N. Allers of Bucknell University claimed that Tyson groped her during a photo-op at a party in 2009. And Tyson’s former assistant, Ashley Watson, said she was forced to quit her job after Tyson made repeated sexual advances toward her.

Their claims echo allegations by Tchiya Amet, who says Tyson drugged and raped her while they were both grad students at University of Texas in Austin in 1984. She says the assault eventually caused her to drop out. Amet first tried to go public with her story in 2010, when she accused Tyson in front of a live audience. She also wrote public blog posts about the incident in 2014, 2016, and 2017. Amet even filed a police report, even though the statute of limitations on her claims had expired. Despite this, it seems her case was never investigated.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59vv58/neil-degrasse-tyson-is-canceled-for-now-amid-his-metoo-reckoning
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