Bellamy Young Apologizes for Saying Ryan Seacrest Shouldn't Host E!'s Oscars Red Carpet
Scandal star Bellamy Young is backtracking after calling on E! to exclude red carpet staple Ryan Seacrest from Sunday’s pre-Oscars show.
Seacrest, 43, will still host the broadcast after the network’s investigation found “insuffient evidence” to support former stylist Suzie Hardy’s claims that he sexually harassed her, including grabbing her crotch multiple times. (He has staunchly denied Hardy’s allegations and accused her of blackmail.)
“I think this is the time to step aside and let someone of equal talent that is beyond reproach to be in charge,” Young said from the premiere of A Wrinkle in Time on Monday, according to Variety. “It’s funny because I know it feels like the rules have changed so I’m sure people who have been in dominant positions are taken by surprise, many of them living in fear, many of them thinking, ‘But this is how we said we’d act.’ But we never said that. We never consented. Now that someone is asking, ‘Do you consent,’ and we get to say ‘No,’ people have to accept our no and step aside.”
But Young, 48, apologized to Seacrest via a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.
“On Monday night on the red carpet, I spoke on record about something I had no first hand knowledge of,” she said. “I trusted that the information that the journalist provided me with was complete, and I gave my general opinion based on the information he provided. The world is changing quickly right now, and many of us have been affected by this issue: I spoke up because I feel deeply that the secrecy of shame plays a significant part in what has kept this shift from happening before now.”
Young continued: “But never has there been a more urgent time to make sure our voices are used for truth, and I failed in that regard Monday night. Our words matter. Our word matters. I apologize to Ryan Seacrest. He has been exonerated from the allegations I was told about on the carpet, so my opinion is different now. I just want to clarify that anyone who uses my quote going forward is using the quote of an uninformed person and fanning the flames of a non-story by making use of an unwitting accomplice. I’ve learned that ‘I don’t know’ can be a complete answer. I will do better next time.”
