Fox and National Geographic are looking into claims of sexual misconduct made against “Cosmos” host Neil deGrasse Tyson, including a rape accusation, following two reports in Patheos. The first, published on November 8, includes an allegation that the celebrity astrophysicist drugged and raped fellow grad student Tchiya Amet in 1984, while the second concerns two more accusers.
Dr. Katelyn N. Allers, a physics and astronomy professor at Bucknell University, alleges that Tyson “felt her up” nine years ago, while his former assistant Ashley Watson says she quit her job because of his advances.
“The credo at the heart of ‘Cosmos’ is to follow the evidence wherever it leads. The producers of ‘Cosmos’ can do no less in this situation. We are committed to a thorough investigation of this matter and to act accordingly as soon as it is concluded,” said the producers of the Fox series in a statement. “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” premiered in 2014 and is a follow-up to the Carl Sagan show first aired by PBS in 1980. It has aired 13 episodes so far, with a second season set to debut on March 3, 2019.
“We have only just become aware of the recent allegations regarding Neil deGrasse Tyson. We take these matters very seriously and we are reviewing the recent reports,” Fox Broadcasting Company and National Geographic said in a statement.
“I woke up in his bed; I was naked…When he saw that I had woken up, he got on top of me and mounted me, and I passed out again,” Amet said of the alleged rape. “I didn’t tell anybody because when I had been an undergrad, I had some issues of molestation by a student and a faculty member, and when I went to report it to the authorities, they both told me not to say anything because it would ruin the person’s life.”
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