UPDATE (March 4, 2020): A jury in Washington, D.C. has ruled in favor of PBS and ordered Smiley to pay the public broadcaster nearly $1.5 million.
More allegations regarding Tavis Smiley’s departure from PBS have become public. A new 500-page report from an external investigator regarding the matter has been unsealed. Throughout the report, Tavis Smiley allegedly engaged in sexual relationships with subordinates, verbally abused coworkers and made unwanted sexual advance towards others.
According to Deadline, “A woman claimed in 2000, Smiley grabbed her buttocks during a photo session, and then later purposely made contact between his penis and her buttocks.”
Furthermore, “One woman claimed that when she visited Smiley’s house, he opened the door and was not wearing pants. He later asked her to have a threesome with him and his executive producer Kimberly McFarland.”
In 2017, PBS suspended Smiley indefinitely for allegedly breaching his contract. As a result, PBS has filed a lawsuit against Smiley demanding that he return production advances he receieved while with the network. Smiley had motioned to have the lawsuit thrown out, but a judge has ruled that the suit may move forward.
Smiley’s team has not issued a statement regarding this recent report.
