According to a newly unsealed report from a PBS-hired external investigator, former talk-show host Tavis Smiley’s alleged misconduct dates back decades and spans inappropriate sexual comments and touching, verbal abuse, as well as sexual relationships with subordinates and guests on his show.
The findings from March 2018 were filed by Smiley’s legal team as part of the ongoing legal dispute between the host and PBS, which suspended “Tavis Smiley” in December 2017 amid misconduct allegations and an internal investigation. Smiley then sued PBS, alleging breach of contract. PBS in early 2018 filed a countersuit against Smiley, asking for the return of $1.9 million in production expenses.
Per the report, one former employee for “The Tavis Smiley Show” alleges that a few days after she started working for Smiley, he asked her to lunch, calling her on her cell phone and not her office line and telling her where to meet him to drive there, even though they were both in the office at the time. Smiley allegedly asked her at that lunch if she had a boyfriend, and then on the drive back to the office asked about her bra size, offering to take her to the Victoria’s Secret at The Grove and “buy you some stuff, some panties.”
She told investigators that she laughed off the comments, but Smiley persisted and said something along the lines of “If you don’t tell me what bra size you wear, I will make you walk back to the office.” The woman, who was eventually laid off, said others told her that she was let go because she “knew too much,” referring to her knowledge about Smiley’s behavior, according to the report.
Several of the women interviewed by the investigator say they had consensual relationships with Smiley, but noted the impact of the professional power dynamics on their decisions. One woman, who had been a guest on Smiley’s show in 2008 or 2009 and had a sexual relationship with Smiley, noted that she “uncomfortably went with [sexual contact]” at Smiley’s house and added that “women are put in a bad position when their boss hits on them,” according to the report’s summary of interviews. She and a separate woman both say they were not invited to come back to the show after their respective incidents with Smiley.
A traveling producer for Smiley told investigators that she had a sexual relationship with him in the late aughts, recalling that on one work trip, the hotel’s front desk informed her that Smiley had requested her to his room for business purposes, and that when she arrived there he made sexual advances toward her. She allegedly told him something along the lines of, “Look, I worked really hard for this job, and I am not trying to lose it because of a relationship with you,” upon which Smiley told her that it wouldn’t happen because she was “smart,” but that “we just need to keep it a secret since I am your boss.”
The producer was terminated after others found out about the relationship; she was told work performance issues were the cause, but believes that Smiley had her fired because of simultaneous relationships with others in the office, said the report.
Another accuser, who worked with Smiley between 2002 and 2003, alleged that during a dinner on a work trip in Atlanta, Smiley asked her why was “playing so hard to get” and said “Come to my room,” putting his hand on her back. She was so uncomfortable that she left to go to the bathroom and call her sister.
Some of the allegations date back decades. One woman told PBS’ investigators that in 2000, Smiley grabbed her buttocks while a photo of them was being taken, and that on a separate occasion he had brushed by her, purposely making contact between his penis and her buttocks, then pretending that it had been an accident.
One woman said that upon visiting Smiley’s house once, he opened the door not wearing pants, and asked her to have a threesome with him and his executive producer Kimberly McFarland, who was naked in Smiley’s bed, looking scared.
According to the report, multiple interviewees were concerned about retaliation by Smiley, and believed that reporting Smiley’s behavior would be “futile,” since he oversaw both the organization and its human resources department.
Smiley told the investigator that he had never engaged in suggestive banter, and denied having said “anything generally misogynistic about women,” according to the report. He also told the outside investigator that he has never disciplined or terminated an employee for knowing too much about his sexual relationships or for having sex with him. He said he has also never told his staff to terminate an employee for having a relationship with him.
Smiley has previously denied the allegations and accused PBS of racial bias and unnecessary audits of his books. He has previously acknowledged consensual relationships with employees and said that such relationships were not prohibited by his production company’s policies.