WXYZ anchor Malcom Maddox put on leave in wake of sexual harassment allegation

WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) put news anchor Malcom Maddox on administrative leave Wednesday after the station was accused, at a news conference Wednesday morning of brushing aside allegations of sexual harassment made against Maddox.

At a live-streamed news conference, the Rev. W.J. Rideout III, pastor of Our God's People Church in Detroit, claimed that station management — including Vice President and General Manager Mike Murri — were informed of sexual harassment allegations by a current employee and failed to address the issue, instead promoting Maddox and moving the woman to a new assignment.

"They've covered up accusations against one of their main anchors," Rideout said Wednesday morning.

Rideout has been an outspoken voice in metro Detroit on other issues. In August 2016, according to a Free Press article, he spoke about plans to protest against Donald Trump at the Great Faith Ministries, the Detroit church that the then-GOP candidate would soon visit.

In November 2016, he called for a boycott of WDIV-TV, spurred by allegations that then-reporter Lauren Podell had used a racial slur in an off-the-air conversation. In January, Rideout demanded the resignation of Warren Mayor Jim Fouts after audio recordings purportedly revealed Fouts denigrating black people and older women.

Later Wednesday, a statement from WXYZ attributed to Murri said, "WXYZ is actively investigating the allegations that were made in the press conference. As we continue our investigation, Malcom Maddox has been placed on administrative leave."

WXYZ anchor Dave LewAllen read Murri's remarks during a brief segment in his regular 5 p.m. newscast Wednesday.

In his news conference, Rideout detailed how Maddox sent the woman inappropriate e-mails and texts. When she brought them to the attention of a supervisor, the supervisor merely ordered Maddox to stop texting and calling, Rideout claimed. He did not offer physical evidence during the news conference.

The reverend said the woman wanted to remain anonymous.

When the woman kept pushing back and brought the issue to the attention of Murri, Rideout said, she was told to "respect her boundaries."

At this point, Rideout said, Maddox was promoted to be the main morning anchor, while the woman's schedule changed so she wasn't working with Maddox anymore. She was told to "readjust."

Also read:

Rideout charged that this woman's experience was not an isolated incident, stating that "numerous employees were shown pictures and endured sexual innuendos" and that the anchor showed his "anatomy parts to females in the workplace." Rideout also accused the anchor of having sexual relations with a "young producer employee" in the station's parking lot.

"Channel 7 knew about it, Mike Murri knew about it," Rideout said, adding that he was "told a number of things, but right now I can’t divulge. I was asked not to divulge certain things."

Rideout said he didn't understand why men felt the need to force themselves on a woman, "when they’re giving it away.”

Also read:

Near the end of the news conference, Rideout expanded his accusations to include a more broad list of media members. He brought up the names of WXYZ anchor Stephen Clark, who announced on Monday that he'll be retiring in February, and Free Press Editorial Page Editor Stephen Henderson, but did not make any specific accusations. Clark, who co-anchors the 6 p.m. news, didn't mention the topic in that broadcast on Wednesday.

“We take these issues very seriously and will investigate thoroughly any allegations of sexual harassment,” said Peter Bhatia, editor and vice president at the Detroit Free Press.

Rideout also claimed that there are cases involving "women predators" in the Detroit media but wouldn't give details.

He said the alleged victims have retained attorneys and will be speaking out.

A national reckoning

Rideout's claims arrive in the midst of a national cultural reckoning that is resulting in the serious treatment of sex harassment charges against powerful men in entertainment, politics, and the media.

Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey and morning network news anchors Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer are among those who've been accused by multiple sources and faced resignation or firing. Just this week, U.S. Rep. John Conyers of Detroit announced his retirement after several women came forward with charges against him.

On Wednesday morning, Time magazine revealed its 2017 person of the year to be "the silence breakers," its term for the thousands in the #metoo movement who've spoken out about enduring sexual harassment and assault.

Opinion: To apologize or not? Calculating the cost of contrition

Also on Freep.com: Hollywood's long ugly history with sexual harassment

The media, like other industries, continues to deal with what Columbia Journalism Review describes as "the public outing of the 'whisper networks' women have relied on to keep safe."

In early December, CJR reported the results of surveys it created to better understand sex harassment policies at workplaces. Over a three-week period, it didn't get a response from any of 149 newsrooms asked to participate.

"We've basically been faced with a lot of reticence over this publicly," said CJR digital editor Nausicaa Renner.

Following Wednesday's news conference, 910 AM Superstation radio host Steve Neavling said on air that he had heard of claims against three journalists in Detroit. He declined to give names, saying he wanted to give the alleged “predators” the opportunity to come forward, but spent the entire hour segment flicking at the allegations, saying he was up at 3 a.m. calling sources to work the story.

"Two are television reporters and one is an editor at a newspaper,” Neavling said, noting that they are the same people Rideout had called out.

Fox 2 Detroit reported on its website that it had reached "multiple women who worked with Maddox at Channel 7 and confirm Rideout's allegations about Maddox." It also said Maddox was investigated and suspended in 2015 and then promoted to a morning anchor upon his return, according to unnamed sources.

Maddox, a native of Pittsburgh, joined WXYZ in 2011 as weekend anchor and eventually was promoted to morning anchor. Maddox is a former Marine who started off as a photojournalist and television news reporter.

Contact Allie Gross: aegross@freepress.com. Free Press staff writer Julie Hinds contributed to this report.