Gabrielle Union Files Discrimination Complaint Against NBC & ‘AGT’s Simon Cowell

Meredith Jacobs June 4, 2020, 3:00 pm

Gabrielle Union in America's Got Talent - Season 14 — Trae Patton/NBC

Following an internal investigation by America’s Got Talent, which found no wrongdoing in connection to Gabrielle Union’s claims of a “toxic” environment on set, the Season 14 judge is reportedly taking action.

“After months of attempting to negotiate with NBC Universal on their cultural/workplace issues, @itsgabrielleu has filed a complaint against NBC Universal, @FremantleUS, @SimonCowell, and @syco,” New York Magazine‘s Yashar Ali tweeted Thursday. “I am told she will be filing a separate suit against @SimonCowell as well.”

12 Stars Supporting Gabrielle Union in Her 'America's Got Talent' Drama (PHOTOS)

Furthermore, Ali shared a statement from Union’s attorney, Bryan Freedman. “When Gabrielle Union informed NBC of racially offensive conduct during the taping of America’s Got Talent, NBC did not ‘stand’ with her in ‘outrage at acts of racism.’ … NBC stood against her and directed its ‘outrage’ at Ms. Union for whistleblowing about the racially offensive conduct she experienced while working for NBC on America’s Got Talent,” the statement reads.

The statement continues explaining that, despite the network’s recent comments about race, “what was truly an ‘outrage’ was the fact that Paul Telegdy, Chairman of NBC Entertainment, actually threatened Ms. Union in an attempt to silence her from telling the truth about racist actions that took place on the show.” Read the statement in full below.

2. Statement from @itsgabrielleu’s attorney Bryan Freedman.

He alleges that the Chairman of NBC Entertainment Paul Telegdy threatened Gabby in an attempt to silence her from telling the truth about racist actions that took place on America’s Got Talent. pic.twitter.com/61X49SLX86

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) June 4, 2020

This comes after production companies Fremantle and Syco released a statement sharing the findings of the internal investigation. According to Union, there were comments made about her appearance and insensitive jokes. Then, despite her three-season contract, she was only a judge with the NBC competition show for one season.

“Through the investigation process, it has been revealed that no one associated with the show made any insensitive or derogatory remarks about Ms. Union’s appearance, and that neither race nor gender was a contributing factor in the advancement or elimination of contestants at any time,” the companies said. “The investigation has shown that the concerns raised by Ms. Union had no bearing on the decision not to exercise the option on her contract.”