Who Is Suzie Hardy? Former Stylist Accuses Ryan Seacrest Of Sexual Assault

Ryan Seacrest's former stylist Suzie Hardy accused the radio personality of sexually assaulting her while she worked with him on E! News, reports said Monday. Hardy spoke about the alleged sexual assault for the first time in an interview with Variety recently, describing how she was groped and abused by Seacrest while they worked together.

During the interview, Hardy detailed how Seacrest abused her and made unwanted sexual advances toward her including groping her vagina. Hardy claimed Seacrest had developed an attraction toward her and would often find opportunities to hug her. She also said that on one occasion, Seacrest allegedly threw her on a bed and forcefully rubbed up against her.

“I didn’t know how to deal with it. I really didn’t. I was battling finally being in a decent financial position to breathe and be a mom that I didn’t have to be freaking out all the time, and then dealing with this infantile celebrity person who was testing me on every level and manipulating me and knew that I was in a vulnerable position,” she told the Variety.

“As proud as I am and as strong as a woman as I am, as smart as I am and as much work as I’ve done with therapists, it really affected me,” she further elaborated.

Seacrest’s attorney, Andrew Baum, said: “It is upsetting to us that Variety is electing to run a ‘story’ about untrue allegations that were made against my client after they were told that the accuser threatened to make those false claims against him unless he paid her $15 million. At that time, the claimant threatened to issue a demonstrably false press statement unless she was paid. Instead, my client proactively and publicly denied the claims and agreed to fully cooperate with E!’s investigation about the matter.”

“On January 31st the network notified us that their independent third-party investigation had concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support her claims, effectively, clearing my client’s name. It’s telling that after my client refused to pay her money, and the E! News’s investigation resulted as it did, that she is now coming forward to share her debunked story to the press,” he added.

The incident came to light in November last year when Seacrest was contacted by Hardy’s lawyer regarding the sexual assault claims. Seacrest, however, had refuted the claims. Earlier this month, he said they were “reckless.”

“Total exasperation was my definite feeling when I heard about it. I felt like by the third interview, it was obvious the investigator was whitewashing it for Seacrest’s side,” Hardy said after he was investigated for sexual assault.

Following this, E! News launched an investigation into Hardy’s claims. Three months into the investigation, E! News concluded that they found “insufficient evidence to support the claims against Seacrest.”

“E!’s investigation was extremely comprehensive and thorough. Over the course of a two-month process, our outside counsel interviewed more than two dozen people regarding the allegations, including multiple separate meetings with the claimant. The investigator is an attorney with nearly 20 years’ experience and is highly regarded professionally. Any claims that question the legitimacy of this investigation is completely baseless,” an E! News spokesperson said.