Smiley responds to six PBS employees' accounts

Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP/Shutterstock Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP/Shutterstock Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Smiley responds to six PBS employees' accounts 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON — One by one, the voices of six female employees of former PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley sounded in a District of Columbia courtroom, each woman describing incidents in which they claim Smiley requested sex or told a lewd joke while at work.

Some of the women said that they felt pressured to comply with those requests and that they faced retaliation — even losing their jobs — if they didn't. Others described comments or jokes by Smiley that they said made them uncomfortable in the workplace.

During three weeks of trial, Smiley listened to the women's accounts, played in court by video deposition. When he took the witness stand he admitted that he'd had intimate relationships with two of the women. But he said several of the accounts were false and insisted he never acted with retribution and never intended to offend.

"I'm a black man struggling to make it in America. I have laughed at all of this so-called power. I struggled to raise money to keep my show on the air. I never had such power," Smiley, 55, testified. "I have influence, but I don't have power."

The accusations — and Smiley's responses — were detailed as Smiley and PBS squared off in court, with each side arguing that the other was in breach of contract when the network stopped airing his show in 2017 amid the sexual harassment allegations. On Monday, attorneys for PBS and Smiley gave their closing arguments before the jury began deliberations.

For 14 years, PBS distributed Smiley's late-night talk show to 238 stations nationwide, about 72% of its network.

PBS is suing Smiley for about $1.7 million the network says Smiley owes in money it had provided for a season that never aired. Smiley, who says the network terminated his contract without proof of the allegations, is countersuing for $1 million.

The case is being heard in D.C. Superior Court because Smiley's company, TS Media, while based in Los Angeles, is incorporated in D.C.

During the trial, Smiley said that he did date some co-workers and that his company did not have a policy forbidding them. He said his long workdays made him unable to meet women outside of work.

But Smiley bristled at many of the allegations and repeatedly denied that he used his role as founder and CEO of his media company to pressure the women into sex. He said he never threatened the jobs of women who rebuked him. And he said the women who complained saw the case as "an opportunity for revenge" after a failed relationship or losing their jobs for a legitimate reason.

Most of the women were identified in court only by their first names. One, named Tracy, said she worked as a producer and, at one point, dated Smiley. She testified that Smiley bragged about how one of the women performed oral sex on him at work. "That's a lie from hell," Smiley testified. "That's a baseless attack."

Tracy testified that while the two were at Smiley's Los Angeles-area home, Smiley asked her for oral sex. She declined and left. She said that as she was driving home, Smiley telephoned her and told her to call him when she arrived at her home. She refused. Smiley, she said, then reminded her that he was her boss and that she had refused a request from her supervisor. A day or so later, Tracy said, she was fired.

But on the witness stand, one of Smiley's managers said that the woman was terminated for excessive lateness and that she had been given numerous warnings.

Paula Kerger, the PBS president and chief executive who attended every day of the trial, testified that she was "proud" to have Smiley's show on her network. "He's a very talented man who brought a lot of interesting conversation to the show," she said.

Kerger testified that the allegations against Smiley initially came in an anonymous phone call placed just after PBS had canceled the show of Charlie Rose, another PBS talk-show host who was accused of sexual harassment.

It was the height of the #MeToo movement, when women across the nation were using social media to voice their stories and outrage regarding sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Smiley's attorneys argued that although PBS conducted an internal investigation, the network terminated Smiley's show without substantiating the allegations.

At the center of the case is the morals clause that PBS has with on-air talent. It forbids employees from doing anything publicly that would negatively affect the employee or the network. It also bars office romances.

At one point, PBS attorney Grace Speights displayed a photo of Smiley and photos of seven women. Six accused him of harassment. One did not but said she and Smiley dated while working together.

"Mr. Smiley engaged in a pattern of conduct of having sex with subordinates, referencing oral sex, propositioning employees for sex while on trips and making harassing phone calls," she told the jury. "He believed that because he was paying them, paying their benefits, that it somehow justified this conduct. And that is unacceptable."

In one of the videos played earlier in the trial, a producer named Stephanie, who is white, said Smiley asked her in the presence of another employee whether she had ever had sex with a black man.

Another woman, Erica, testified that while on a business trip in Atlanta, she was in a restaurant with co-workers when Smiley asked her, "Why are you playing so hard to get?" and asked her to meet him in his hotel room later.

"I was taken aback. I had given him no indication that was ever a desire of mine," the woman said, at times her voice cracking with emotion.

Smiley said Erica was fired because she was bad at her job, and he denied propositioning her.

As the videos were played, Smiley's mother, Joyce, with her Bible in hand, walked out of the courtroom and sat in the hallway.

Another woman said she had been paid $175 to do five-minute spots about health issues on Smiley's radio show between 2008 and 2009. Once, when Smiley was visiting Chicago, where she lived, she met him at his hotel room. The woman said Smiley insisted they have sex and she refused.

"I felt I was damned if I did and damned if I didn't," she said. She never heard from Smiley again, and her radio segment was later canceled.

Smiley testified that to save money, his show canceled about a half-dozen or so radio segments and the health spot was among them.

In her deposition, a producer named Holly described the day when she booked then-Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., for Smiley's show. She testified she got "dressed up" because Kerry was a major guest. Holly testified that Smiley commented on her legs in front of other co-workers and read a joke off his phone about oral sex.

Smiley said he did not "recall" telling her a joke about oral sex. He admitted to "teasing" Holly about her skirt but said several co-workers had commented on her appearance.

Another woman also named Tracy, who was employed as a producer in 2013, testified that Smiley repeatedly "pressured her" into having a relationship. She said Smiley threatened to "destroy" her career if she rebuffed him.

Smiley insisted that he and the woman had been in a relationship and that he was "hurt" and "angry" by her allegations. "I never threatened to destroy anyone. That's not my purview," he said. Smiley said the woman was angry because she wanted an equity share in his company and he refused.

Smiley's attorney, Ronald Sullivan, argued none of the women presented any witnesses, emails or text messages to support their allegations. "Do not let them use the tired, old racist stereotype of the angry black man. We're better than that."

Four of the women testified about Smiley's temper, saying he would yell, curse and berate employees. But one of the few men who testified on behalf of Smiley said Smiley also yelled at him because "I had messed up and I deserved it. He was the boss."