Fox and NationalGeographic, Producers of "Cosmos," Investigating Allegations of Sexual Misconduct Against Series Host/Planetarium Button-Pusher Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Now Tyson, and I imagine the whole leftwing, is demanding evidence to back up a woman's claim of misconduct.

Surprisingly enough!

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has responded to recent allegations of sexual misconduct by posting a lengthy statement online, in which he denies wrongdoing and says he welcomes an impartial investigation by the producers of his show Cosmos.

"In any claim, evidence matters. Evidence always matters. But what happens when it's just one person's word against another's, and the stories don't agree? That's when people tend to pass judgment on who is more credible than whom," wrote Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City.

The most recent allegation comes from Ashley Watson, who worked as his assistant while he was filming the Fox show Cosmos, but who quit due to alleged harassment.

Instead, she says, he put on music by Nina Simone, opened wine and began pulling cheese from the fridge. She recalls that he had taken off his shoes and was wearing a tank top. "I remember thinking, 'This is a lot of skin for me to be seeing on my boss,' " Watson says. "The vibe was just kind of weird." She says Tyson spoke about the stresses of his job and how he needed a "release."

Later, as she was leaving, she says Tyson said he wanted to show her a Native American handshake that involved feeling each other's pulses and staring into each other's eyes to make a spiritual connection. Watson says she did this for about 10 seconds but was extremely uncomfortable and says she thought to herself, "You're supposed to be very smart, why can't you pick up that I don't want to touch you right now?"

She also says he put both hands on her shoulders and told her that he wanted to hug her badly, but if he did, then he would just want more. Watson says she was shaken by the interaction but felt like she needed references and recommendations so she planned on just working the last few days of the Cosmos filming.

The next night, however, in the car, she says that Tyson told her that she was too "distracting" to work as a producer. She was so angered by this that the next day she quit and told one of the show's producers why. He asked whether she wanted to file a formal complaint. "I just didn't want to make a fuss," Watson says. Instead, they agreed that she would explain her abrupt departure by saying she had a family emergency.

The most serious allegation, however, is about a drugging and rape.

The most serious allegation against Tyson is from someone who says that he drugged and raped her back in the 1980s, when they were both in graduate school. In his statement, Tyson said that they dated briefly but that the alleged rape never happened.

Sean Davis invites you to cast your mind back to Tyson's claim that Bush said something or other about God naming the stars. He was completely wrong, but said he had an "explicit memory" of the quote (which does not exist).

He now says that the woman's memory of the alleged rape must simply be wrong, "implanted."

He also impugns her credibility by calling her, basically, a drop-out and fruitloop.

Which I was told was something an accused man must never do.

More from John Sexton.

posted by Ace of Spades at 05:44 PM

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