If one fancies him or herself any level of “Pop culture fanatic” over the last 20 years, the name Touré Neblett is one that should ring a bell.
A respected author, music journalist, cultural critic, and more, Neblett – beyond his contributions as a television personality to MSNBC, BET, VH1, etc. – has interviewed a number of music’s biggest acts in his tenure. Included on his resume is a now infamous 2008 sitdown with R. Kelly where he quizzed the ‘Pied Piper of R&B’ on his alleged inappropriate relationship with underage girls.
Now, thanks to further commentary on the matter via a number of interviews and his inclusion on the explosive Lifetime docuseries, ‘Surviving R. Kelly,’ Touré may be set to answer a similar line of questioning…
In a jaw-dropping piece unveiled by our friends at Essence, the 47-year-old has been publicly accused of workplace sexual harassment. Dani, a makeup artist, alleges that Touré sexually harassed her while she worked with him on a show.
“He couldn’t stop asking me to do anal, how I looked naked, if I had sex over the weekend, what it would be like to f–k me.”
She says the harassment eventually led her to quitting, but also says she reported Touré to human resources.
“I worked with him most of 2017, I left in October, before he got fired,” she claimed. “When I reported it to Time Inc. they terminated him that day.”
Dani claims Neblett apologized for his infraction at the time, but she is speaking up now about the nearly two year old incident because she’s seen him offer commentary on the likes of Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly as both are facing allegations of sexual harassment.
“I accepted his apology and was ok to move on but, you can’t be a sexual predator and go around shaming other predators,” she said. “When I saw him going around as R. Kelly’s docuseries spokesman to different radio stations, the lies had to stop.”
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Toure responded to the accusations:
“On the show, our team, including myself, engaged in edgy, crass banter, that at the time I did not think was offensive for our tight-knit group. I am sorry for my language and for making her feel uncomfortable in any way. As a lead on the show, I should have refrained from this behavior. I have learned and grown from this experience.”