Actress Gabrielle Union filed a harassment, discrimination and retaliation complaint against NBC, Simon Cowell and others.
The complaint was filed Thursday with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, according to a report published by Deadline.
Gabrielle Union files discrimination complaint against #AmericasGotTalent producers, says NBC Chief Paul Telegdy threatened her over whistleblowing https://t.co/IFnvBnYllH
— Variety (@Variety) June 4, 2020
“Telegdy contradicted his statements to the media and personally disregarded NBC’s ‘Principles of Business Conduct’ (hereinafter, ‘Code of Conduct’) mandating confidentiality for workplace investigations by contacting Union’s agent and disclosing confidential information obtained during the ongoing investigation into Union’s concerns in an attempt to silence and intimidate Union from providing information to the investigator about her experiences,” the complaint stated. (RELATED: An Investigation Into ‘America’s Got Talent’ Shows ‘Culture Of Diversity’ Amid Toxic Allegations)
The complaint added that “on or about February 4, 2020, Telegdy threatened Union through her agent and warned Union’s agent that Union had better cease from pursuing her claims of racism while filming ‘AGT.'”
– Jay Leno racist Asian “joke” “one of several examples of what insiders called a toxic culture at the show.”
– Gabrielle Union was subjected to a very specific critique — that her rotating hair styles were “too black” for the audience of “AGT”https://t.co/LRvqIIGLjs
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) November 27, 2019
The complaint was filed six months after Union left “America’s Got Talent” and comes after NBC claimed an independent investigation into the show revealed an “overall culture of diversity.”
Variety published a report in November claiming Union complained of a “toxic” culture while she was a judge on the show. Union confirmed her complaints in an article published at the end of May.