GABRIELLE Union has filed a harassment complaint against America’s Got Talent producers after accusations of on-set racism and a lack of accountability, first made in November 2019.
In the filing, which was made through California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), Gabrielle named Simon Cowell’s Syco, producers FremantleMedia and NBCUniversal.
She also accused NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy of threatening her over plans to whistleblow what she perceived as racism on set.
The complaint was filed by attorney Bryan Freedman.
In the filing, Freedman referenced NBC’s recent remarks standing alongside the Black Lives Matter protests writing: “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.’”
He continued: “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.”
The filing does not explain how Mr Telegdy threatened the actress.
Gabrielle, 47, left the NBC competition show in 2019 after one season, as Variety cited the “toxic culture” as the reason for her departure.
In a recent interview with Variety, she claimed she was “poisoned” by Simon Cowell’s on-set smoking which she alleges he did indoors, despite her being severely allergic.
Gabrielle said she hesitantly addressed the situation with producers, who acknowledge the complaints, to no avail.
She claimed: “You are literally met with the very definition of a toxic work environment, and it’s being carried out by the most powerful person on the production.
The actress continued that she “couldn’t escape it,” and was “sick for two months straight.”
A spokesperson for Simon told the outlet: “When he was directly informed of the smoking complaint during the first couple of days of the season, he immediately changed his behavior and the issue was never raised again.”
But a source familiar with the internal investigation of America’s Got Talent claimed to the outlet that though the smoking was addressed, the investigation hasn’t concluded that the former American Idol judge’s indoor smoking has stopped completely.
Gabrielle also made claims against guest judge Jay Leno.
During filming of a commercial interstitial at the offices, she alleged he made a joke about a painting of Simon, 60, and his dogs, saying the animals looked like food items at a Korean restaurant.
The joke was perceived as the stereotype about Asian people eating dog meat.
Gabrielle said of the quip: “My first big interview in this industry, the first person who allowed me to come on their talk show, was Jay Leno. I’ve always held him in high regard, but I was not prepared for his joke.
“I gasped. I froze. Other things had already happened, but at this point, it was so wildly racist.”
As for production, they allegedly said: “We’ll delete it. We’ll edit it out”
She told the outlet of the incident: “You cannot edit out what we just experienced. There is not an edit button in my brain or in my soul.
“To experience this kind of racism at my job and there be nothing done about it, no discipline, no companywide email, no reminder of what is appropriate in the workplace?”
Despite Gabrielle’s claims, an internal investigation into the show stated there was an “overall culture of diversity.”
HOAR has contacted reps for NBC for comment.
