Is This the Beginning of the End of Ryan Seacrest's Empire?
Ever since the #MeToo movement took down Harvey Weinstein, it really hasn’t faced much in the way of opposition. I guess you could consider Jeremy Piven passing a lie detector as an L. But for the most part, the movement has gone largely untested and has successfully taken down anyone accused. Which is why the latest celebrity in the crosshairs is going to be the most fascinating case study yet.
The allegations against Ryan Seacrest pre-date #MeToo and #TimesUp by a few years. He was accused by his stylist Suzie Hardy of getting all handsy with her. She dimed him out to E! who claim they had a third party investigation done and “found insufficient evidence to support the claims” and Hardy was fired. And Seacrest not only survived, he continued to relentlessly build his empire to the point he is probably now the most ubiquitous, overexposed figure in the history of television.
But that was then. Now in our post Rose McGowan-whistle-blowing world, guys with the stink of a broomed investigation don’t get away so easily. And apparently a suddenly woke Hollywood was doing all it could to keep Seacrest’s stink off of them. According to the kinds of websites that do the math on such things, Seacrest was blown off by all but four of the 20 acting nominees. He got none of the A-listers he used to have in his pocket like so many nickels and dimes. E! had to put him on 30-second delay in case anybody started hurling insults in his face. And Taraji P. Henson gave him that weirdly playful and yet vaguely threatening pinch on the face.
That’s the kind of thing that would have had an actress pulling back a bloody stump if Seacrest wasn’t damaged by the accusations. Back a few months ago when he had clawed his way to the top and became the biggest kingmaker in show business. When he could either destroy you (RIP, Dunkelman) or make you into a giant (the Kardashians). What Taraji did to him was more than just menacing. It was the first crack in his armor. The kind of thing that shows you’re vulnerable. It was Leonidas throwing his spear across Xeres face to prove that even a god can bleed. And once you lose that air of invincibility, it’s virtually impossible to get it back.
So it’ll be fascinating to see where this goes. If #MeToo’s momentum keeps flattening powerful, creepy men under its steamroller of vengeance, or if they finally met their match in Ryan Seacrest. If he does get taken down, this will be the moment it started.