Source: Earl Gibson III / Getty
This just in: Tavis Smiley has to pay back his former employer, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), a smooth $2.6 million a judge ordered.
Back in March, a Washington D.C. jury ruled that Smiley did breach the moral clause in his contract following a 3-week trial that saw depositions from six women who accused him of sexual misconduct.
Initially, the jury awarded PBS $1.5 million, which also included the costs and underwriting revenue for the last two seasons of Smiley’s now-defunct talk show. Following the trial, the network said aht aht aht and argued that Smiley should also be entitled to additional damages under the morals clause and won.
Per the New York Post:
“Judge Yvonne Williams agreed, issuing a ruling on Aug. 5 awarding PBS $2.6 million. That includes $1.9 million in liquidated damages — the amount paid by PBS to Smiley’s company, TS Media, for the show’s last two seasons. The judge also awarded PBS an additional $702,898 that corporate underwriters had paid to Smiley’s company for those seasons.”
Smiley tried to get the jury award reduced, but the judge also denied that request.
Smiley’s show was suspended back in December 2017 following an investigation from an outside firm looking into the allegations of sexual misconduct levied against the TV host. Smiley unsuccessfully sued PBS in February 2018, PBS countered with its own lawsuit with a jury ruling against Smiley’s claim that the network violated his contract by shelving his show.
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Tavis Smiley Ordered To Pay PBS $2.6M For Alleged Sexual Misconduct was originally published on hiphopwired.com
