Aileen Gram-Moreno’s (pictured) is suing the E! network after they fired her for letting a segment critical of the channel air during the Golden Globes in January
A female producer for the E! network is suing the American basic cable station for discrimination after letting a segment critical of the channel air during the Golden Globes.
Aileen Gram-Moreno’s complaint comes just days after E! was thrown into controversy when allegations against producer and red carpet host Ryan Seacrest was accused of sexual misconduct from a former network stylist.
Moreno claims that she was sacked after airing a clip of Eva Longoria criticizing E! during the channel’s Golden Globes red-carpet show in January, according to The New York Times.
She also claims that she had been replaced with a male producer who was given a higher title.
On Thursday, Moreno turned to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to file a complaint, saying she was unfairly terminated and replaced by a man.
Langoria used her air time with the E! channel earlier this year to express her support for Catt Sadler, the former E! News on-air personality who quit after learning her male colleague was making twice her salary.
This year’s Golden Globes served as a sounding board for women in the arts where a Hollywood-led initiative to fight sexual harassment called TimesUp went viral
Actor Eva Longoria (L) criticized the E! network after Catt Sadler (R) quit over unfair compensation during The 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards
Actress Debra Messing also pointedly criticized E! during a live interview on the Golden Globes red carpet in response to Sadler’s abrupt departure.
The network later denied it had paid Sadler unfairly, saying the pay scale was based on a merit system and that it compensates employees fairly ‘regardless of gender.’
This year’s Golden Globes served as a sounding board for women in the arts where a Hollywood-led initiative to fight sexual harassment called TimesUp merged with the more culturally pervasive #MeToo movement.
Publicist are signaling that Hollywood’s elite will likely dodge Seacrest should he appear on the red carpet during Sunday’s Academy Awards
Meanwhile, publicist are signaling that Hollywood’s elite will likely dodge Seacrest should he appear on the red carpet during Sunday’s Academy Awards.
NBCUniversal has said an investigation into the allegations failed to find sufficient evidence to support claims made by Suzie Hart against the 43-year-old television host.
Seacrest denies the allegations.
Moreno, who has worked for the E! network since the 1990s and produced red carpet events for more than 12 years but was working freelance for the network at the time of her firing, said that she was instructed by her superiors to avoid or edit out all mentions of Sadler, TimesUp or the #MeToo movement during the Golden Globes.
‘They said, if there’s any mention of Catt in the preshow, make sure you flag it,’ Gram-Moreno said in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday. ‘You’re censoring celebrities; it’s just not a good idea in my humble opinion. But it wasn’t my decision.’
Moreno said that she was instructed by her superiors to avoid or edit out all mentions of Sadler, TimesUp or the #MeToo movement during the Golden Globes
After Langoria’s comments made it to air, a mishap that the long-time producer says was a result of having to review dozens of interviews taking place at the same time and making snap decisions, she was fired from all her booked events.
‘The executive producer said it was because you let the Catt mention get on air,’ Ms. Gram-Moreno said in the interview.
President of E! Entertainment Adam Stotsky, however, disputed Moreno’s claims, stating to The Times that there was no effort to censor celebrities on the carpet.
Moreno’s job, he said, was to ‘screen all of the assets completely and obviously she failed to do that.’
He added that she was not asked to return to work in upcoming show because of a ‘pattern of poor performance,’ with the Golden Globes slip being the final straw.
An E! spokeswoman, Sarah Goldstein, said, ‘For the past decade Aileen Gram-Moreno was a freelancer who worked an average of 20 days per year solely for our red-carpet coverage.’
‘After the Golden Globes,’ Goldstein added, ‘she was asked not to return due to job performance issues. Ms. Gram-Moreno filed her legal claim after her request for a financial settlement was turned down.’