Ever since the Harvey Weinstein scandal came to light, more women who have suffered sexual harassment have become bold enough to expose those who sexually harassed them. Mark Halperin, who works with MSNBC as a senior political analyst, is the latest person being accused of sexual harassment at the workplace.
NBC News has suspended Mark Halperin indefinitely from his contributor post at MSNBC in the wake of allegations that he sexually harassed employees while at ABC News. CNN spoke with five women who worked with Halperin when he was political director at ABC News and they claim he propositioned them for sex. One of the women claims he kissed and grabbed her breast against her will. Three of the accusers claim that Halperin pressed his erect penis against their bodies while he was clothed.
The alleged acts occurred between the 1990s to the mid-2000s. The five women all spoke under the condition of anonymity, noting that despite no longer working with Halperin, he wields a lot of influence in their industry as a sought-after political analyst. They said they didn’t report Halperin to ABC News’ human resources department because of his influence.
Halperin, who’s also been on Bloomberg TV and Showtime’s The Circus, has issued a statement where he denied pressing his genitals against any of his accusers and framed his actions as attempts to date his subordinates. He went on to apologize for his behavior.
The statement read in part: "During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me. I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I’m going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation."
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