Geraldo Rivera has never been shy about sharing opinions, but his latest comments on the wave of sexual misconduct allegations in entertainment and media have drawn serious backlash.
On November 29, Rivera defended Matt Lauer after NBC fired him. He tweeted that “News is a flirty business” and suggested the current wave of harassment allegations may be “criminalizing courtship.” Fox News said his tweets did not reflect the network’s views and that it was addressing them with him.
Soon after, a 1991 interview with Barbara Walters resurfaced, shared widely on Twitter by journalist Yashar Ali, in which Bette Midler said Rivera and a producer pushed her into her bathroom during an interview in the early 1970s, broke open poppers, held them under her nose and groped her. She said Rivera was “unseemly.” Midler also said an encounter Rivera wrote about in his memoir did not happen the way he described it.
Rivera later apologized in a series of tweets for the way he wrote about Midler in his book, according to TheWrap and other outlets. Midler responded that he had yet to apologize for groping her, The Daily Beast reported. Representatives for Rivera and Midler did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.
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