CNN suspends Paris Dennard pending investigation of misconduct allegations

CNN announced that they have suspended contributor Paris Dennard after it was reported he was fired from a previous job for sexual misconduct.


According to The Washington Post, Dennard was terminated from his job at Arizona State University in 2014 “for making sexually explicit comments and gestures toward women, according to documents and a university official.”

While working as events director at the university’s McCain Institute for International Leadership, The Washington Post said that Dennard told a recent graduate who worked for him that he wanted to have sex with her. A university report said that he “pretended to unzip his pants in her presence, tried to get her to sit on his lap, and made masturbatory gestures.”

Click to expand...

CNN said Wednesday evening that Paris Dennard has been suspended from his commentary role, pending an examination of the allegations against him in a Wednesday Washington Post story.
The Post reported that Dennard was fired from a job at Arizona State University "for making sexually explicit comments and gestures toward women."

The Post obtained a copy of an ASU report that described the university's 2014 internal investigation into Dennard's conduct. According to the newspaper, the report "describes a series of inappropriate incidents often initiated by Dennard with the two women in 2013 and 2014."

The investigation found that Dennard had committed "serious misconduct," according to the Post.

Later, Dennard became a high-profile surrogate for the Trump campaign, appearing frequently on television and in other forums. He is well known to CNN viewers as a political commentator for the network, and for his staunch defenses of President Trump.

Shortly after the Post story was published online, a CNN spokeswoman said, "We are aware of reports of accusations against Paris Dennard. We are suspending Paris, effective immediately, while we look into the allegations."

Click to expand...