CNN senior correspondent Clarissa Ward said on Thursday that Mark Halperin’s alleged sexual harassment was an “open secret” at ABC News “for years.”

Ward — who was an international correspondent for ABC News from 2007 to 2010 — took to Twitter to respond to the CNN report that spoke with five women who accused the now NBC News analyst of sexual harassment while he was at the news network:

This was an open secret when I was at @ABC for years- brave of these women to speak up. https://t.co/xQgu2xZMUk — Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) October 26, 2017

Halperin is accused of harassing a number of ABC News employees when he was the network’s political director in the 1990s. His behavior ranged from “propositioning employees for sex” to “kissing and grabbing one’s breasts against her will.” Three of the women accused him of “pressing an erection against their bodies while he was clothed.”

A statement issued Thursday morning by MSNBC and NBC said Halperin “is leaving his role as a contributor until the questions around his past conduct are fully understood.”

Ward’s remark that Halperin’s conduct was an “open secret” at ABC News comes after news of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual assault and harassment rocked the entertainment world. His behavior was also described by many inside Hollywood as an “open secret.”

[image via screengrab]

UPDATE 1:11 p.m. EST: Ward again took to Twitter on Thursday to fire back at those who have been criticizing her for not calling out Halperin’s conduct earlier. In doing so, she provided some much needed perspective:

1) Amazing how many men lashing out on Twitter that I, or other women who had heard about sexual misconduct at @ABC are somehow responsible — Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) October 26, 2017

2) As if these men have the first idea what it’s like to be a 26 year old girl starting out a career at a major network or any company — Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) October 26, 2017

3) As if these men have any idea how much courage it takes for a young woman to stand up to an incredibly powerful and well respected man — Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) October 26, 2017

4) As if these men know what it’s like to try to defuse an incredibly awkward and unwanted encounter with humor for fear of losing a job — Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) October 26, 2017

5) As if most of us at that age aren’t just trying to be seen as competent equals with a bright future ahead and not a potential HR headache — Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) October 26, 2017

6) Let’s be very clear- the one responsible for any sexual misconduct that may have taken place is the man who instigated it — Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) October 26, 2017

7) NOT the women who were victims of it, nor their friends and colleagues who tried to support them through it — Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) October 26, 2017

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Follow Aidan McLaughlin (@aidnmclaughlin) on Twitter

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