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Essence Owner Cleared in Outside Review

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Anonymous Essay Alleged Sexual Harassment
Tavis Smiley Ordered to Pay $2.6 Million
Kalamazoo Apologizes for Reporter’s Arrest
Rodriguez to Help L.A. Times Target Latinos
Anchors Threw Fruit at Harlem Globetrotter

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“. . . no witness came forward to provide any facts or circumstances to support” allegations against Essence owner Richelieu Dennis.

Anonymous Essay Alleged Sexual Harassment

Essence magazine owner Richelieu Dennis did not commit the sexual harassment charged by an anonymous group of purported past and present Essence employees in an explosive article published in June, an independent reviewer said in a report released by Essence Monday.

“The investigation concluded that that these claims are not substantiated,” Essence said in a statement. “There were no suggestions or allegations of any sexual harassment by Dennis from witnesses in any of the interviews, nor were there ever any formal or informal complaints made to the company – despite ESSENCE engaging outside HR consultants and internal professionals, unrelated to Dennis, during the entire tenure of Dennis’ ownership with whom complaints could be filed.”

The anonymous essay, published on medium.com, said, “Scores of talented Black women have been either wrongfully laid off or forced to resign from the company in the past two years.

“Essence’s C-suite leadership team strategically tells the market it ‘serves Black women deeply’ under the safe seal of 100% Black ownership, but for the Black women who [make up] over 80% of the company’s workforce, they are systematically suppressed by pay inequity, sexual harassment, corporate bullying, intimidation, colorism and classism. . . .”

The Medium piece specifically called out Dennis and other executives.

Essence said it was awaiting results of a study of workplace culture.

Among those expressing support or concern was the National Association of Black Journalists, which declared June 3 that it “is disheartened about the multiple allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct at publications like ESSENCE, Okayplayer, OkayAfrica and others.

“We have learned that some of the leaders at these companies such as Abiola Oke and Richelieu Dennis have been dismissed or have resigned, but still believe sweeping change has to occur now, as others may have also been involved. It is important to note that Dennis still remains the CEO of Essence Ventures, which owns Essence Communications. As we have said previously, it is important that the readers, consumers and advertisers of these platforms hold them accountable and demand change. . . .”

(Essence issued a statement June 2 saying Dennis “never stepped down from, resigned from or was replaced in any role.”)

However, reviewing attorneys Keisha-Ann G. Gray and Atoyia S. Harris of Proskauer Rose LLP wrote of the three sexual harassment allegations, “A primary consideration for the foregoing findings was the fact that no witness came forward to provide any facts or circumstances to support Allegation Nos. 1, 2 or 3.

“Additionally, the witnesses interviewed did not provide any factual support for Allegation Nos. 1, 2 or 3 and the documents reviewed did not contain any information to support the claims in Allegation Nos. 1, 2 or 3.

“Finally, the facts provided by the witnesses interviewed contradicted the claims raised by
Allegation Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and we did not receive any information, factual or otherwise through
the course of this Review that substantiates Allegation Nos. 1, 2 or 3.. . .”

A message left on the Twitter account of Black Female Anonymous was not returned.

Essence added, “We are awaiting the conclusion of the Morgan Lewis review related to workplace culture and will provide a subsequent update once those findings are available. ESSENCE looks forward to the results as we continue to advance our mission of elevating and empowering Black women and communities, both in and out of the workplace.”

Three women testified about Tavis Smiley’s use of crude language at work, his anger, his habit of yelling at subordinates, and other issues. (Credit: ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America.”)

Tavis Smiley Ordered to Pay $2.6 Million

“A judge has ordered TV host Tavis Smiley to pay $2.6 million to the Public Broadcasting Service for having multiple affairs with his subordinates,” Gene Maddaus reported Monday for Variety.

“A Washington, D.C., jury found in March that Smiley had breached the morals clause in his contract, following a three-week trial. The jurors heard deposition testimony from six women who accused Smiley of misconduct.

“The jury awarded PBS $1.5 million, which included costs and underwriting revenue for the last two seasons of Smiley’s talk show. But following the trial, the network argued that it should be entitled to additional damages under the morals clause.

“Judge Yvonne Williams agreed, issuing a ruling on Aug. 5 awarding PBS $2.6 million. That includes $1.9 million in liquidated damages — the amount paid by PBS to Smiley’s company, TS Media, for the show’s last two seasons. The judge also awarded PBS an additional $702,898 that corporate underwriters had paid to Smiley’s company for those seasons. . . .”

MLive reporter Samuel J. Robinson was arrested while covering a protest by the far-right group Proud Boys and counter protesters. (Credit: Chris duMond/Detroit News)

Kalamazoo Apologizes for Reporter’s Arrest

“An MLive reporter arrested while covering a rally of the alt-right group the Proud Boys in Kalamazoo Saturday, Aug. 15 will no longer face a criminal charge,” Ryan Boldrey reported Sunday for Michigan’s MLive.

“Kalamazoo Mayor David Anderson announced at a press conference Sunday, Aug. 16 that the charge of ‘impeding traffic’ against [Samuel J.] Robinson (pictured) had been dropped by the city of Kalamazoo that afternoon.

“Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas issued a public apology to Robinson at the press conference.

“ ‘I want to make an apology here and I want to address the arrest of the MLive reporter who they believed to be interfering and obstructing with their operations to restore the order,’ Thomas said.

“ ‘I personally want to apologize for that event. The reporter was wearing a visible credential and should not have been arrested. I apologize for the trauma that it caused this young man.’

“When asked why he was arrested and taken to the jail and booked despite identifying himself multiple times as a journalist, Thomas said, ‘I don’t have all that information right now. I just know he was at the county jail for an hour and five minutes.’

“Robinson, 23, was in downtown Kalamazoo Saturday to cover a rally of the far-right group Proud Boys, as well as a group of counter-protesters that gathered to oppose the group’s ideology.

“Violence, much of which was captured by Robinson for MLive via Facebook Live and Twitter, erupted between the opposing sides. . . .”

Rodriguez to Help L.A. Times Target Latinos

Angel Rodriguez (pictured), the highest-ranking Latino in the Los Angeles Times newsroom, is “stepping down from his Masthead position as Assistant Managing Editor responsible for the News Desk,” Executive Editor Norm Pearlstine told staff members Monday, “to work on several projects that are important to our future, and that play to his interests and strengths.”

The Times has been under pressure from the News Guild’s Latino Caucus, which, following the Guild’s Black Caucus, is pressuring management for better representation.

Pearlstine said of Rodriguez, “He will initially work with the staff of the Los Angeles Times en Espanol, helping it develop plans to better serve Southern California’s Spanish-speaking market. Angel and LAT en Espanol will, no doubt, benefit from working closely with the Latino Caucus, but success will also require support from every part of The Times, including our business side counterparts.

“I have also asked Angel to rethink elements of our Las Vegas coverage, to continue his work on creating a Print Desk, and to be available to help the team working on Graphene,” the content management system.

Rodriguez became leader of the news desk in November. He led the sports staff for more than four years, and had been deputy editor for mobile innovation at The Washington Post and sports editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer.     

(Credit: YouTube)

Anchors Threw Fruit at Harlem Globetrotter

“A member of the Harlem Globetrotters released a video Saturday evening accusing two Birmingham-based TV anchors of racism after they threw fruit at him during a televised segment recorded earlier this year,” Christopher Harress reported Sunday, updated Monday, for al.com.

“Maxwell Pearce, an entrepreneur and viral athlete who played basketball for Purchase University in New York from 2015 to 2018, said the incident occurred during an appearance on WBRC’s Good Day Alabama show,. . . .He delayed going public with his experience for fear of losing his job, but said that he hoped his decision would help others.

“ ‘By sharing this story, it can inspire people to share their experiences of racism and discrimination,’ he said in the five-minute video. ‘Throwing a banana at a black man and passing it off as entertainment displays an unacceptable lack of awareness, and quite frankly I’m having a very difficult time understanding how someone could work in the media field and not know this is offensive.’

“Pearce named anchor Clare Huddleston and lead weather forecaster Mickey Ferguson in the video, saying the pair threw two tangerines and a banana at him during a segment where he was supposed to be performing tricks with a basketball. Anchor Mike Dubberly is shown standing beside Pearce and laughing.

“Pearce added that even if the offense was not intentional, it did not lessen the damage. ‘This carries deep racial undertones that date back to the early 1900s when black people were held in display in human zoos.’ . . .”

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