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*Two former of employees of “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” claim they were fired after Questlove raised hell over a racist group text that they never asked to be part of.
According to their lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Questlove demanded that NBC kick camera operators Kurt Decker and Michael Cimino to the curb after what they claim was misappropriated blame and racial retaliation from The Root’s drummer.
The docs claim a stagehand sent Decker, Cimino and Roots member Mark Kelley — who’s black — a vile text during a taping of the ‘Tonight Show’ last year, which they say they never asked for or responded to. They tried explaining this to NBC execs in an attempt to distance themselves from the “racist and misogynist” text message, which they feared would be associated with them.
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The Blast notes that Decker and Cimino reported the incident to Keith McPhee (a manager of The Roots) and Bryon King, a technical production manager at NBC. But when Questlove caught wind of the text, the two men claim there were both immediately suspended but Kelley was not because Questlove demanded that he not be disciplined.
A seven-week investigation ensued and they claim Questlove “pressured NBC to fire all of the Caucasian employees involved in the incident.”
Decker and Cimino believe their case shows a pattern of behavior by NBC with regards to “reporting requirements in other circumstances of wrongful conduct.”
They used Matt Lauer’s termination as an example, saying, ”It has been widely reported that many employees of NBC (including, of course, female victims themselves) had actual knowledge of Matt Lauer’s alleged serial sexual harassment, and yet NBC ignored and took no adverse action against any such individuals for their purported failure to report Mr. Lauer’s conduct.”
Decker and Cimino are each seeking a million dollars in damages.
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