*In June, HBO announced it will carry “The Gray Area,” an interview show on which Charlamagne tha God, according to a press release, “will provide a safe space for ‘unsafe’ people to curate their stories and control their own narratives.”
But as the furor grows surrounding comments he made three years ago about having sex with a woman who was “wasted” and “not coherent,” the cabler may drop “The Breakfast Club” co-host.
Additionally, Charlamagne, 40, born Lenard Larry McKelvey, is at the center of a 17-year-old rape controversy involving Jessica Reid. He pleaded guilty in 2002 to contributing to the delinquency of a minor after a 15-year-old Jessica claimed he raped her. Now 32, she wants the case reopened, but prosecutors said they can’t renege on Charlamagne’s plea deal.
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On Monday an HBO spokesman revealed to Page Six: “HBO is taking a serious look into the information that just surfaced.” That newly surfacing info is from an episode of “The Brilliant Idiots” podcast from three years ago, when Charlamagne told how, as a young man, he “got this girl real drunk,” gave her the aphrodisiac Spanish fly and had sex with her.
Asked if she was passed out, Charlamagne replied, “She wasn’t coherent, but she was up, like when you are blacked out.”
On the same podcast on Monday, Charlamagne said, “The way I communicated that story in that clip was dead-ass wrong, and I apologize.”
He stressed that the sex was consensual, as was taking the Spanish fly. “I didn’t take advantage of anyone,” he said, admitting that the way he told the story “seems sketchy now.”
HBO was quick to sever relationships with Mark Halperin and Russell Simmons when accusations of sexual misconduct surfaced. And when comedian Louis C.K. was accused, HBO removed his content from their on-demand services.
Meanwhile, a petition launched earlier this month is calling for iHeartRadio — which syndicates “The Breakfast Club” to 50-plus markets nationwide — to fire Charlamagne has garnered more than 18,800 signatures.
Charlamagne’s lawyer said, “He never had sexual relations or any physical contact with the accuser and even provided DNA to prove it.”
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