Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson accused of sexual misconduct by fourth woman

Following Neil deGrasse Tyson‘s response to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, a fourth woman has come forward with a new accusation. Buzzfeed News spoke with the fourth, anonymous woman in a new report, for which they say they spoke with more than thirty people over nearly three years.

from Buzzfeed News:

Now a fourth woman has told BuzzFeed News her experience of sexual harassment from Tyson. In January 2010, she recalled, she joined her then-boyfriend at a holiday party for employees of the American Museum of Natural History. Tyson, its most famous employee, drunkenly approached her, she said, making sexual jokes and propositioning her to join him alone in his office. In a 2014 email shared with BuzzFeed News, she described the incident to her own employer in order to shoot down a proposed collaboration with Tyson.

It was the news of the Cosmos investigation that spurred the fourth woman to speak with BuzzFeed News. She was upset about how the allegations against Tyson — including a rape claim — were being written off by many as an example of the #MeToo movement going too far. But these incidents happened well before #MeToo, she said, and often within the scope of his professional work. “These people don’t behave in silos — institutions protect them,” she said.

All three of these women say that Tyson’s behavior toward them was not simply inappropriate or clumsy; it was harassment. Their stories, they said, which all took place in professional settings, show a clear abuse of power. And his response, they said, ignored the real pain and discomfort that he caused under the guise of playfulness and goodwill.

Tyson has yet to respond to the fourth allegation. AMNH spokeperson Anne Canty told Buzzfeed News that they are investigating, “to the extent we are able to ascertain the facts,” and were previously unaware of the alleged incident. Producers of Cosmos, which Tyson hosts, say they are “committed to a thorough investigation of this matter and to act accordingly as soon as it is concluded.”

Tyson denied the previous allegations made against him, suggesting his actions were misinterpreted. In the case of Tchiya Amet, who first came forward in 2014 to accuse Tyson of raping her in the 1980s, Tyson suggests, “it is as though a false memory had been implanted.”