Former Good Morning America producer Michael Corn has been accused of sexual assault by an ABC News staffer. He has since responded by calling the claims “demonstrably false,” according to Deadline.
(Nexstar)
The Lawsuit:
- ABC News staffer Kirstyn Crawford, anchor producer for George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, claims that Corn assaulted her while they were traveling in Los Angeles in February, 2015.
- The lawsuit alleges that as they were taking an Uber ride to their hotel, Corn pulled her head into his chest “and began kissing her and rubbing her legs.”
- It also alleges that he later came to her hotel room “for the express purpose of attempting to have sex with her.”
- The suit also claims Corn assaulted another staffer, Jill McClain, who is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit, but is supporting the case.
- The lawsuit also lists ABC as a defendant and accuses Corn of fostering a toxic work environment, and alleges that the network was aware of complaints about Corn but did not take action.
- Corn left ABC News in April and has since landed at Nexstar Media Group’s NewsNation as the president of news.
Corn’s Response:
- Corn has released a statement, through his attorney, denying the claims and suggesting that he may take his own legal action:
- “I vehemently deny any allegations that I engaged in improper sexual contact with another woman. Kirsten Crawford’s claims are demonstrably false—and I am providing contemporaneous emails to prove it. Hours after the supposed incident, Ms. Crawford offered to bring me coffee and breakfast to my hotel room and asked for my hotel room number because she didn’t know it—the very same room where she now claims this incident occurred. The same day, she repeatedly offered for me to share a car with her. And the same day she emailed me, after I helped counsel her through a work problem, ‘why are you so great?’ These are not the words and actions of a woman who had been assaulted hours before.”
- He also denied McClain’s allegations.
- Corn’s attorney sent a letter to Crawford’s legal representatives calling a pending lawsuit “frivolous litigation.”
- The letter included email exchanges between the two from the weekend in question.
- The exchange reportedly included Crawford expressing concern over Stephanopoulos’s flight from New York to Los Angeles being canceled. When Corn apologized for the situation, she made it clear he “had nothing to apologize for at that time.”
ABC:
- An ABC spokesperson issued a statement on the matter:
- “We are committed to upholding a safe and supportive work environment and have a process in place that thoroughly reviews and addresses complaints that are made. ABC News disputes the claims made against it and will address this matter in court.”