Sheryl Lee Ralph claims the network covered up the attack because of “Bad Press.”

Sheryl Lee Ralph talks about how a TV network tried to silence her about the attacks.

The “Abbott Elementary” Emmy winner claimed several network executives witnessed a “celebrity TV judge” assaulting her at a company event, but did not punish the assailant due to concerns about “bad press.”

“This man walked in, grabbed me by the back of my head, turned me around and shoved his nasty-ass tongue down my throat,” Ralph said in an episode of the “Way Up With Angela Yee” podcast. “And everyone at the network saw it.”

While Ralph did not name his attacker, he noted that Judge Greg Mathis is not a “great person.”

IndieWire reached out to Ralph for comment.

“I am in a very public place. I was eligible. I was doing my thing on the television show at the time,” Ralph continued, citing that “we were on the same network” as the man who attacked him. Ralph starred in the UPN series “Moesha” from 1996 to 2001.

Connected

Connected

Ralph shared that he was prepared to take legal action until “someone at the network tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Please don’t do it.’

“They didn’t want bad press around their show and they didn’t care what happened to me,” Ralph said. “They saw what happened! “It’s not that bad, is it?” Please don’t say anything, you don’t need the bad press, it’s a brand new show. Yours is a new show.”

Following the alleged sexual harassment, Ralph called former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, who served from 1994 to 2002, to report him. According to Ralph, Morial said, “You want me to send the police over there right away? Because we fix the you know what!

Ralph continued, “These things happen. This is what makes it difficult for women to talk about these things. Speak up, tell the truth, don’t carry the burden of pain, especially if you feel like you can’t fix it.”

Speaking at the 2022 Emmy Awards, Ralph said: “I don’t know if you ever really prepare for it — I think most of the time you just do the job and hope you do a good job of it. be visible. For me to be one of the 3,000 Emmy Award-winning actresses—there you go. Now this is nothing but God’s gift and blessing. This is something wonderful and special in my life. And I’m so blessed to experience it now and all the good things that are coming.”

(embed)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcXqDErvA7A(/embed)

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