John Singleton Accused of Sexual Harassment by Journalist

Danielle Young, John Singleton

John Singleton Accused of Sexual Harassment by Journalist

John Singleton is being accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward journalist and producer Danielle Young. Young, who also claimed that Rev. Jesse Jackson sexually harassed her [click here for the backstory], says that an incident between her and the director took place earlier this year, at the American Black Film Festival. Young recounts her experience with The Root, saying she was interviewing him for his new FX series, Snowfall, when he pulled her toward him. She recalls,

I conducted the interview, and afterward I went over to Singleton to grab my mic and he grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him, saying, “Bring that juiciness over here”. He was sitting in a director’s chair, so when he pulled me, I fell forward and stopped myself by placing my hands on his legs. He then leaned forward and kissed me on my cheek. I said, “Oh, oh, OK,” and stood up, embarrassed because everyone was definitely still in the room.

She continued,

Mostly, no one reacted, aside from a few seconds of laughter. A few people asked Singleton for a photo, and I didn’t. He noticed. When he was about to leave the room, he asked if I wanted a picture. In order not to make it awkward, I said yes. He grabbed me around my waist and pulled me into him, saying, “Oooh, I’m gonna grab on tight to you.”

Snapped this selfie with this legend while he gripped my waist and said, “oooh I’m gonna grab on tight to you.” Y’all. #JohnSingleton likes his women BBW. Word to #Drake. #DaniWorks #abff2017

A post shared by Danielle Young (@rhapsodani) on Jun 16, 2017 at 12:24pm PDT

Young adds,

I laughed, because that’s what I do when I am uncomfortable, and snapped the photo. When I posted the photo on Instagram, I admitted to his sexual advances, but I kept it light with humor. A therapist would tell me that’s a defense mechanism. After Singleton and his crew left the room, I turned to a woman working for the festival and I said, “Did you see that?”

John Singleton

She said, “Yeah, girl. I heard he likes big girls.” The woman was also “of size,” and told me that when she went to take a selfie with him, he kissed her on the cheek and said, “I love your face! It’s so soft. I want to feel your cheek on my cheek. The woman’s admission was so pedestrian, I was convinced she was simply reacting the same way many women do to unwanted sexual attention—she ignored it. I tried to ignore it, but I felt weird. I left the room and then another journalist asked me about the interview, I told her about the arm pull, the “juiciness” and the kiss, and she said, “Girl, he’s worth $50 million! You should pursue that!” I couldn’t believe she was telling me to ignore my better judgment and my skin-crawling to make a man who doesn’t respect boundaries my sugar daddy. I felt like I should never have said anything.

Singleton has yet to comment.

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