'Everybody at the network saw it': Sheryl Lee Ralph reveals 'famous TV judge' sexually assaulted her
GLENDALE, ARIZONA: Emmy award-winner Sheryl Lee Ralph claimed she was sexually assaulted in the past by a popular TV personality. The 'Moesha' alum revealed that while she was at a network's event for promoting a show, a "famous TV judge" allegedly assaulted her years ago.
"I'm at a very public place. I was suited. I had my suit on. I was handling my business for the television show I was on at that time. He and I were on the same network," Ralph revealed on the 'Way Up with Angela Yee' podcast on Monday, March 20. "This man walked in, grabbed me by the back of my neck, turned me around, and rammed his nasty-a** tongue down my throat. And everybody at the network saw it," the Golden Globe winner recalled the harrowing incident.
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Who was the 'famous TV judge'?
During the podcast, the 'Abbott Elementary' star who was on the 'Moesha' sitcom at the time clarified that the TV figure she had been talking about was not Judge Greg Mathis. However, the actress did not name the man who allegedly assaulted her. Talking about Mathis, she said, "I love him. He's a great man. Not him at all. He's a great man. This was another one."
The singer said that at the time, she called Marc Morial, the then-mayor of New Orleans to report the incident. "You want me to send the police there right now? 'Cause we will fix this, you know what!" Morial asked Ralph. However, she told that the executives of the network did not want to take the chance believing that the incident would eventually become public.
Talking about how the network asked her to sweep the incident under the rug, she said, "Somebody on the network tapped me on the shoulder saying, 'Please don't'. They did not want any bad press around their show, and did not care what had just happened to me."
'Speak up, tell your truth'
The actress shared about her other 'MeToo' experiences in her career so far and revealed another incident of alleged sexual assault. She claimed that a promoter inappropriately placed his hand on her leg. "My skirt is at my knees. I have on a sweater blouse," she recalled. "It's horrible. It's like I can think about these things and I'll tell you, it was like the third time something like this had happened to me, and I thought to myself, 'What did I do to deserve that? What made this man think that he could just come over and put his hands on my body, in front of [everyone]' — he didn't know me," said Ralph.
The 'Dreamgirls' star made these shocking revelations in the hope that it would inspire and empower others to speak out as well. "Speak up, tell your truth, and do not carry the burden of the pain, especially if you feel like it's something you can't work through," she said.