Charlotte Anchor Says She has Nothing to Do with Sexual Harassment Investigation
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Jerry Richardson has been relieved of his duties in running the NFL's Carolina Panthers after reports of sexual harassment and racial abuse were raised against him.
Richardson owns the team, but it does not look like for long.
A Charlotte Anchor that is rumored to be part of the investigation against Richardson says that she has nothing to do with it.
The Charlotte Observer writes that Richardson raised eyebrows in 2011 during a press conference when he instructed WCCB Reporter Morgan Forgarty – who worked for a Charlotte Fox News affiliate at the time – to come sit directly in front of him so he could “abuse her.”
Then Charlotte Observer reporter Tommy Tomlinson wrote at the time that Richardson “came off as irritable, cheap, confused, obstinate and a bit of a bully.”
“He directed Fox reporter Morgan Fogarty — who happens to be blond and beautiful — to come sit right in front of him,” wrote Tomlinson. “It...gave off a bad whiff.”
Fogarty, who works for Charlotte station WCCB, addressed the investigation against Richardson on Friday and started by acknowledging that she and her family have been friends of the Panthers team owner since 2010.
“He has always been a gentleman to me and my family, both personally and professionally,” Fogarty said in her statement.
However, she admitted his comments during the 2011 press conference were “awkward.”
“In January, 2011, during a press conference, he made a comment to me that, with the news today, has come up,” she said. “That day, he asked me to come to the front of the room so he could ‘abuse me.’ That was awkward in part because he failed to include context.”
Richardson shocked the city on Sunday by announcing that he’s putting the team up for sale. The announcement came not long after a Sports Illustrated article accused him of making inappropriate comments to female staff members, as well as allegedly making a racist comment to an African American recruiter for the team.
