MTV has suspended shooting on Catfish this week as it looks into sexual misconduct allegations against host and executive producer Nev Schulman, The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday.
"We take these allegations very seriously," an MTV spokesperson said in a statement to Refinery29. "We’re working with Critical Content, our third party production company, to conduct a thorough investigation, and we’ve put a pause on shooting until the investigation is completed."
The allegations appear to stem from two YouTube videos that Ayissha Morgan, who appeared on the show in 2015, posted on Saturday and Monday. In the rather long videos, called, "The TRUTH About the Show, Parts 1 and 2," Morgan describes the hosts of Catfish under pseudonyms "Jack" and "John." She says Jack, who is pretty obviously Schulman, repeatedly hit on her, even though she said she was a lesbian and was not interested.
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"I just think you haven't met the right guy," she says in one of the videos. She goes on to accuse Schulman of saying, "I have a big dick. I would tear your ass up," while they were at an airport during the shoot.
Morgan says she visited Jack's room when they arrived in Houston and again rebuffed his advances. Then she describes getting extremely drunk after having beers with a producer she calls Carol. Morgan says she blacked out at one point and awoke to see the woman on top of her. The next day, she says she felt like the laughing stock of the production. She visited Schulman's room again and he suggested she do with him whatever she did with Carol. He grabbed her arm, but she pulled away and left his room.
Schulman has denied all of these allegations. “The behavior described in this video did not happen and I'm fortunate that there are a number of former colleagues who were present during this time period who are willing to speak up with the truth,” Schulman said in a statement his publicist sent to The Daily Beast. “I have always been transparent about my life and would always take responsibility for my actions — but these claims are false."
Refinery29 has reached out to reps for Schulman and Catfish co-host Max Joseph for further comment.
If you have experienced sexual violence of any kind, please visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999.