Banfield asked if the accuser’s so-called “bad date” was what “victimized” her “to the point of seeking a public conviction.”
“But what you have done, in my opinion, is appalling,” Banfield said. “You have chiseled away at a movement that I, along with all of my sisters in the workplace, have been dreaming of for decades, a movement that has finally changed an oversexed professional environment that I, too, have struggled through at times over the last 30 years.”
The anchor said she’s been a victim of sexual misconduct herself, before launching into a statement addressed directly to the anonymous accuser, whose choice to remain anonymous Banfield noted protected her from experiencing a “career hit” like Ansari.
“You had an unpleasant date. And you did not leave. That is on you. And all the gains that have been achieved on your behalf and mine are now being compromised by the allegations that you threw out there — and I’m going to call reckless and hollow.”
