Neil deGrasse Tyson in 2017. (File Photo).Charles Sykes/The Associated Press
Fox Broadcasting and the producers of the television series Cosmos have opened an investigation into multiple sexual-misconduct claims against the show’s host, Neil deGrasse Tyson. The move follows a report on the website Patheos in which two women accused Dr. Tyson of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
“The credo at the heart of Cosmos is to follow the evidence wherever it leads,” the producers said in a joint statement. “The producers of Cosmos can do no less in this situation. We are committed to a thorough investigation of this matter and to act accordingly as soon as it is concluded.”
Fox Broadcasting also issued a statement, saying, “We have only just become aware of the recent allegations regarding Neil deGrasse Tyson. We take these matters very seriously and we are reviewing the recent reports.”
In the Patheos article, Dr. Katelyn N. Allers of Bucknell University claimed Dr. Tyson groped her at an event in 2009. Another woman, Ashley Watson, claimed in the article that she quit her former job as Dr. Tyson’s assistant in response to repeated inappropriate sexual advances.
Both allegations came to light roughly a year after musician Tchiya Amet claimed that the astrophysicist raped her when they were both graduate students.
Dr. Tyson hosted 2014’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a science anthology in the vein of author Carl Sagan’s 1980 series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. A sequel, with Tyson again set to host, is set to premiere next year on Fox and sister cable channel National Geographic. The revival series is produced by Cosmos Studios, Fuzzy Door Productions, and Santa Fe Studios.
Reuters