Gabrielle Union has filed a discrimination complaint with California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing against America's Got Talent producers, as well as NBC. According to Variety, Union accused NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy of threatening her for speaking out against racism on set.
Gabrielle's attorney Bryan Freedman filed the complaint. In the legal docs, he said, “When Gabrielle Union informed NBC of racially offensive conduct during the taping of ‘America’s Got Talent,’ NBC did not ‘stand’ with her in ‘outrage at acts of racism.’ Instead, NBC did not care enough to either promptly investigate Ms. Union’s complaints or even ask HR to get involved. Rather, NBC stood against her and directed its 'outrage' at Ms. Union for whistleblowing about the racially offensive conduct she experienced while working for NBC on America’s Got Talent.”
Freeman continued that “in sharp contrast to NBC’s recent statement on race, what was truly an 'outrage' was the fact that Paul Telegdy, Chairman of NBC Entertainment, actually threatened Ms. Union in an attempt to silence her from telling the truth about racist actions that took place on the show. There is no place for this type of racial bullying in the workplace, and it is going to take more than a Tweet from NBC to demonstrate that NBC intends to create an environment free from racism.”
PAUL TELEGDY DENIES GABRIELLE UNION'S CLAIMS
Telegdy has denied Union's allegations, telling Deadline, “The allegation that anyone involved in this process threatened Ms. Union is categorically untrue.” He continued, “We took Ms. Union‘s concerns seriously, and engaged an outside investigator who found an overarching culture of diversity on the show. NBCUniversal remains committed to creating an inclusive and supportive working environment where people of all backgrounds are treated with respect.”
Freedman responded to Telegdy's statement, saying, “It’s very telling that NBC fails to substantively address the DFEH complaint that Ms. Union filed based on racial discrimination. Instead, NBC wants to try and play word games by saying that their Chairman Paul Telegdy did not directly threaten Gabrielle Union.”
