Gabrielle Union, NBC reach settlement over ‘AGT’ allegations

If you’ve been following the narrative surrounding Gabrielle Union’s America’s Got Talent firing and her subsequent allegations of a toxic workplace, then you already know that things have been dramatic, to say the least. But now it seems that Union and NBC have come to terms with the events of the past year or so.In a joint statement released to media on September 29, Union and NBC revealed they have come to an “amicable” agreement over Union’s official complaints of misconduct and racial discrimination on the show. “We’ve reached an amicable resolution,” they said in the statement. “NBC Entertainment appreciates the important concerns raised by Gabrielle Union and remains committed to ensuring an inclusive and supportive working environment where people of all backgrounds can be treated with respect.”Neither party has released more information than that, although Deadline is reporting an inside source as saying that Union “received significant compensation from the network.” It’s also worth noting that former NBC Entertainment chairman Paul Telegdy, who was named in Union’s discrimination complaints for allegedly threatening her for speaking out against the work culture, was let go in August as the company tried to address some of its inherent, structural problems.“Do I cave? I didn’t feel like myself; I’m shape-shifting to make myself more palatable. I’m contorting myself into something I don’t recognize. I had to look at myself and say, ‘Do you want to keep it easy? Or do you want to be you, and stand up?’ Because I’m not the only one being poisoned at work,” Union told Variety in May.“If I can’t speak out with the privilege that I have, and the benefits that my husband and I have, what is the point of making it?” she continued. “What is the point of having a seat at the table and protecting your privilege when you’re not doing s— to help other people? It’s absolutely terrifying to speak truth to power about anything. I’m trying not to be terrified, and some days are better than others.”In late 2019 Union, along with Julianne Hough, was fired as a judge from America’s Got Talent. Later it came out that she had complained of racism and health violations on-set, and that she had been labelled as “difficult” for fighting for a fair and safe work environment. Following her allegations at the time an internal investigation was launched but never formally completed, as NBC and producer FremantleMedia claimed they had found no evidence of systemic racism. They did, however, make changes to the human resources reporting process.

 

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Proud, humbled, and honored to be part of this group. Always trying to keep it ? and use our voice to influence positive change in the world. THIS IS THE TIME. #TIME100 @time ? by @kingtexas

A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion) on Sep 22, 2020 at 7:10pm PDT

Since her time on the reality show Union has been a continuous voice for change. She and her husband Dwyane Wade made this year’s Time Magazine list of Most Influential People, she has been starring and producing on the second season of her Bad Boys TV show spinoff, L.A.’s Finest, she recently hosted an all-Black table read of a Friends episode, and she has been speaking out at length on LGBTQ+ rights.In a conversation during the American Black Film Festival in August, Union revealed that despite all of her success, her AGT experience was one of the hardest parts of her career. “The AGT of it all was so surprising and so heartbreaking and so frustrating and so unnecessary. That would be probably the hardest part,” she said at the time. “It [felt] like such a public flogging and just standing in my truth and standing on the side of employee rights and knowing there’s a better way of doing business,” she added. “But that whole process was really brutal and knowing that I brought my team into that, it just sucked.”Here’s hoping that now that Union has settled with NBC, she can move on to even bigger and brighter things.[video_embed id='2045014']BEFORE YOU GO: These creepy alien-looking creatures invaded a family camping trip[/video_embed]