Neil deGrasse Tyson is returning to National Geographic and Fox.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the astrophysicist and host of Fox’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and National Geographic’s StarTalk has been cleared for work again after the two networks completed an investigation into sexual misconduct.
Three women — Bucknell University physics and astronomy professor Dr. Katelyn Allers, Tyson’s former assistant, Ashley Watson, and an unnamed third woman — were a part of a Patheos article alleging Tyson of groping and inappropriate sexual comments. The third woman, a former college classmate of Tyson’s when she attended the University of Texas in the 1980s, alleged Tyson raped her.
The networks have issued a joint statement following the resolution of their investigation. “The investigation is complete, and we are moving forward with both StarTalk and Cosmos,” they said. “StarTalk will return to the air with the remaining 13 episodes in April on National Geographic, and both Fox and National Geographic are committed to finding an air date for Cosmos.” They ended the statement by saying they will make no further comment on the situation involving Tyson.
At the time of the allegations, Tyson wrote on Facebook, “Evidence always matters. But what happens when it’s just one person’s word against another’s, and the stories don’t agree? That’s when people tend to pass judgment on who is more credible than whom. And that’s when an impartial investigation can best serve the truth–and would have my full cooperation to do so.”
The allegations against Tyson came after the #MeToo movement, which unleashed a wave of accusations levied against powerful men in Hollywood. Critics of the movement see it as a witch hunt; however, proponents of the campaign feel that the industry is still too quick to protect its own in the face of serious allegations such as sexual harassment, assault and rape.
Case in point: A similar situation happened with the career of Chris Hardwick, who was initially removed from his Talking Dead hosting job on AMC last year when ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra accused him of sexual abuse. After an investigation, he was also later reinstated.
READ MORE:
Photo: PATRICK ECCELSINE/FOX
