Neil deGrasse Tyson Responds To Sexual Misconduct Allegations

The producers of the show Cosmos, starring Neil deGrasse Tyson, say they will conduct a thorough investigation after allegations of sexual misconduct against the famous astrophysicist were detailed in a news report.

“The credo at the heart of COSMOS is to follow the evidence wherever it leads,” the show’s producers said in an emailed statement. “The producers of COSMOS can do no less in this situation. We are committed to a thorough investigation of this matter and to act accordingly as soon as it is concluded.”

The allegations were made by two women and published on the news site Patheos.com. One of the women, Dr. Katelyn N. Allers, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Bucknell Univeristy, told the publication she was “felt up” by Tyson at a party in 2009. Dr. Allers said the alleged incident happened after the two took a photo together and the photos were published by Patheos.com.

Another woman, Ashley Watson, told Patheos.com that she quit her job as an assistant to Tyson because he allegedly made inappropriate sexual advances towards her. Watson described an incident to Patheos.com where Tyson invited her into his apartment to share a bottle of wine and reportedly spoke of human beings needing “releases.”

“We have only just become aware of the recent allegations regarding Neil deGrasse Tyson,” Fox Broadcasting Company and National Geographic, said in a statement. “We take these matters very seriously and we are reviewing the recent reports.”

Tyson responded to the allegations in a lengthy Facebook post Saturday evening. Responding to the allegation made by Dr. Allers, Tyson said while searching for Pluto in her tattoo of a solar system, he did a search “under the covered part of her shoulder of the sleeveless dress.”

“I only just learned (nine years after) that she thought this behavior creepy,” Tyson wrote. “That was never my intent and I’m deeply sorry to have made her feel that way. Had I been told of her discomfort in the moment, I would have offered this same apology eagerly, and on the spot. In my mind’s eye, I’m a friendly and accessible guy, but going forward, I can surely be more sensitive to people’s personal space, even in the midst of my planetary enthusiasm.”

Tyson also said he did invite Watson into his apartment for wine and cheese and when she confronted him to say she viewed it as an attempt to seduce her, he apologized profusely.

The two allegations are not the first to be made against Tyson. Earlier this month, Patheos.com interviewed Tchiya Amet, a woman who alleges she was drugged and raped by Tyson in 1984. According to Patheos.com, Amet has spoken publicly about her allegation since 2010.

Tyson wrote that when the accusation appeared in a blog he did not recognize the woman who made it by face or name. He said it turned out to be a person he dated briefly in graduate school. Tyson claims that the woman had changed her name and lived an entire life married with children before making the accusation.

“Meanwhile, according to her blog posts, the drug and rape allegation comes from an assumption of what happened to her during a night that she cannot remember,” wrote Tyson. “It is as though a false memory had been implanted, which, because it never actually happened, had to be remembered as an evening she doesn’t remember.”

A new season of Cosmos, which first ran in 2014, is set to air in the spring of 2019.

Besides numerous TV appearances, Tyson is also the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

You can read the full Patheos.com report here.

You can read Tyson’s full post responding to the allegations here.

Reporting from The Associated Press was used in this story.

Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/Associated Press