Showtime has cut ties to Mark Halperin following multiple allegations of sexual harassment, leaving the future of his political documentary series “The Circus” still in doubt.
“Should ‘The Circus’ move forward with another season, Mark Halperin will not be a part of it,” Showtime said in a statement Saturday.
Halperin, who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, apologized for his behavior on Friday, saying that he had sought therapy “to work on understanding the personal issues and attitudes that caused me to behave in such an inappropriate manner.”
The network said Thursday that although during their collaboration with Halperin they never saw or heard of allegations of untoward behavior, they would “evaluate all options should we decide to move forward with another season of ‘The Circus.’ There is no tolerance for sexual harassment within Showtime and its productions.”
The real-time political documentary series “The Circus” is currently in its second season explores President Trump’s first 100 days in office. Halperin and Bloomberg reporter John Heilemann host.
CNN first published five accounts from unnamed women who claimed that Halperin made inappropriate sexual advances while he worked at ABC News more than a decade ago. The accusations included unwanted kissing, propositions for sex, pressing his genitals against three different women’s bodies while clothed and grabbing one woman’s breasts.
Since the CNN report, Halperin has been suspended by MSNBC. HBO also ditched plans to adapt a book Halperin was co-authoring with Heilemann about the 2016 election into a miniseries. Penguin Press also abandoned plans to publish the book itself.