Sheryl Lee Ralph is opening up about a painful chapter from her past.
While dropping by the “Way Up With Angela Yee” podcast, the “Abbott Elementary” actress revealed she was once assaulted by a “famous TV judge” in the past while working.
“I’m at a very public place,” she recalled. “I was suited. I had my suit on. I was handling my business for the television show I was on at that time. He and I were on the same network.”
She then described her unnamed assailant who “grabbed” her by the back of her neck and “rammed his nasty-a– tongue down [her] throat.”
“And everybody at the network saw it,” she claimed.
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Ralph was prepared to report the incident, even enlisting the help of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, but alleged the people at the network urged her to keep quiet to avoid “bad press”.
“Somebody on the network tapped me on the shoulder saying, ‘Please don’t,’” she said. “They did not want any bad press around their show and did not care what had just happened to me.”
She claimed the witnesses tried to convince her the incident wasn’t “that bad” and to keep her new show in mind.
“That’s the kind of stuff that happens,” she said. “That’s what makes it hard for women to speak up about these things.”
The 66-year-old did neveal their identity, but did clear Greg Mathis.
“I love him. He’s a great man,” she praised. “Not him at all. He’s a great man. This was another one.”
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Years later, the actress said she was coming out with her story to encourage other women in the industry to speak up.
“Speak up, tell your truth, do not carry the burden of the pain,” she said, “especially if you feel like it’s something you can’t work through.”
