Admittedly, that could have been a better title, but I’ll take what I can get. Tavis Smiley, host of Tavis Smiley on PBS, has been suspended indefinitely after allegations of misconduct were uncovered.
PBS hired an outside attorney to oversee an investigation into the host’s behavior after hearing about these allegations. Variety says that the firm, MSK, “took reports from 10 witnesses, a mix of men and women of different races and employment levels in Smiley’s organization, most of them former staffers. ”
The investigation revealed he had sexual relationships with multiple subordinates. A few of which thought that they’d be fired if they didn’t sleep with him. Witnesses say Smiley created a “verbally abusive and threatening environment.” An earlier piece written in February didn’t help his reputation.
In a February piece in the Observer, Jacques Hyzagi, a former producer on Smiley’s television show, wrote that Smiley’s “misogyny is always creeping around, barely camouflaged by Midwestern good manners.” Hyzagi described Smiley picking up a woman at the Orlando airport and bringing her along on a reporting trip as a “f**k buddy”; alleged that Smiley had a romantic relationship with another producer; and quoted Smiley denigrating PBS executives.
I actually have no idea who this guy is and haven’t even heard of this show in passing even though it’s ran since 2004. I just like to take these opportunities to work perfecting my fake “I’m shocked!” face.
Tavis Smiley is the most prominent black TV talk show host in America and a prolific author, with a career stretching back three decades, but Bob Mike has never heard of him and is proud of the fact. Bob takes a vicious article written by a malicious white journalist, Jacques Hyzagi, and decides to treat the article as if it is Gospel Truth, a Revelation from Heaven about Tavis Smiley and his “misogyny”. The black man’s burden in Amerikkka. Always to be treated as a Nobody with a Dark Side.
Bob Mike is just another ignorant, insufferable American racist