#MeToo Founder Said Ryan Seacrest Shouldn’t Work the Oscars

The founder of the #MeToo movement said before the Oscars that E! should keep Ryan Seacrest away from the ceremony amidst sexual harrassment allegations. Tarana Burke told Variety that she didn’t believe the network should have Seacrest on the red carpet in the wake of accusations from a former stylist who said he was regularly sexually aggressive toward her. E! hired an independent investigator to look into the claims and Seacrest’s actions, later saying there was “insufficient evidence” for a case against him.

“I feel like we should be celebrating the fact that people are finally paying attention to what we’ve been talking about for decades,” Burke said. “They really shouldn’t send him [to the Oscars]. We shouldn’t have to make those choices of, ‘Do we or don’t we?’”

Burke added, “This is not about his guilt or innocence. It’s about there being an accusation that’s alive, and until they sort of out, it’s really on E! News and shouldn’t be on us . . . It will let us know where they stand in terms of how respectful E! News is of this issue—and of women.”

Seacrest did appear on the red carpet for E!, although as TV Line notes, he spoke with less celebrities than usual.