Music Journalist and former MSNBC host Touré Neblett is apologizing after a former co-worker called him out for sexual harassment.
Music Journalist and former MSNBC host Touré Neblett is apologizing after a former co-worker called him out for sexual harassment.
The allegations come after the airing of Lifetime’s wildly popular documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” which examines in depth Kelly’s alleged abuse towards women and girls.
Neblett was prominently featured in the documentary-- along with an infamous snippet from a 2008 BET interview he did with the singer. Neblett asks Kelly if he likes teenage girls, to which Kelly responds, “When you say teenage, how old are we talking?”
This week, Neblett appeared on a podcast to discuss “Surviving R. Kelly.”
On an Instagram post advertising “The Clubhouse with Mouse Jones,” a makeup artist named Dani wrote that he allegedly used to sexually harass her while she did his makeup.
“Every Monday I used to work with him on a show in 2017 and he couldn’t stop asking me to do [expletive], how I looked naked, if I had sex over the weekend,” Dani wrote in part.
“I had to have the crew stay in the room [with] me while I got him ready.... And when I left I called HR.... He got fired instantly. He wrote me a huge apology for doing that in my DMs. Still have it. He did a ‘20/20’ shoot in 2018, and I was there, and he walked out. Told the producer that he was ‘embarrassed [because] he was inappropriate with a staff member.’ He really needs to take a seat,” she continued.
Speaking to Essence, Dani said she’d left the show in October of that year, and reported the alleged behavior to Human Resources after her departure.
“He went on Hot 97 to talk about Harvey Weinstein (after he apologized). I accepted his apology and was ok to move on but, you can’t be a sexual predator and go around shaming other predators,” she told the magazine.
Dani continued to say she had a male makeup artist put in place after quitting, and said that artist, too was allegedly harassed by Neblett.
“On the show, our team, including myself, engaged in edgy, crass banter, that at the time I did not think was offensive for our tight-knit group. I am sorry for my language and for making her feel uncomfortable in any way. As a lead on the show, I should have refrained from this behavior. I have learned and grown from this experience” Neblett said in a statement though his representative.
Dream Hampton, Executive Producer of "Surviving R. Kelly," tweeted that she didn't know about the allegations against Neblett. "I'm not sure how I could have known. He was included because he did the most famous interview with R. Kelly ever. Like Charlamagne, I wish he'd told me," she wrote.
Once word spread of the news, actor Terry Crews tweeted that he’d cancelled his scheduled interview with Neblett on Thursday.
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