“Extra” co-host A.J. Calloway has been suspended by Warner Bros. Television following multiple accusations of sexual assault, the studio confirms on Saturday.
Calloway’s suspension was first reported Saturday by The Hollywood Reporter and preempted an upcoming report from the outlet in which several women accused him of sexual misconduct.
Calloway did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
“Upon becoming aware of allegations of sexual misconduct against A.J. Calloway, we began an internal review to determine whether there had been any misconduct by Mr. Calloway on ‘Extra’ and whether any employee of the show had been the victim of any such misconduct,” a Warner Bros. representative said in a statement Saturday. “To date, we have found nothing to suggest that Mr. Calloway has ever engaged in workplace misconduct.”
The rep added: “In light of additional allegations brought to our attention, we are expanding our ongoing inquiries, and Mr. Calloway has been suspended pending further review. We take such allegations very seriously and are committed to doing everything we can to ensure a safe and inclusive workplace for all of our employees.”
The decision comes after multiple women have accused Calloway of sexual misconduct in the last year. Last month, two anonymous women told The Daily Beast the TV personality had forced himself on them in separate incidents.
Neither woman was named in the report, though the first of the two accusers filed an “aggravated sexual assault” complaint with the West Orange Police Department in New Jersey in December, according to TDB. No further details were provided regarding the reported assault.
The other woman, identified in the story under the pseudonym Talia, said she first came into contact with Calloway in 2011 and was sexually assaulted by the “Extra” co-host at his house after giving in to his repeated advances.
“I just remember trying to push him off of me, and this went on for 40 minutes straight,” she told the Daily Beast, saying that she was insistent throughout that she would not have sex with him. “Me attempting to push him off of me and fighting to keep him from taking my clothes off. Eventually he got tired, and I think it’s because he was so intoxicated-it was wearing him out.”
The woman said Calloway then began to masturbate and “kept trying to put my hand on his penis and eventually he ejaculated on my hands.”
In a statement to the Daily Beast at the time, Calloway’s lawyer said, “We cannot comment on vague secondhand allegations beyond that Mr. Calloway firmly denies any claim that he assaulted someone.”
Calloway was previously accused of sexual assault by activist Sil Lai Abrams in a report published by THR last June. Recounting a story first published in her 2007 memoir in which she identified her abuser only as a “B-list celebrity,” Abrams said Calloway forced her to touch his genitals and attempted to force himself on her when they met in 2006.
He was arrested, but the case was dismissed on procedural grounds. Calloway maintained that the allegations were not true.