NowThis News suspended NowThis Politics associate producer Jackson C. Davis over the weekend after multiple women accused him on Twitter of sexual misconduct during their time together at Emerson College.
The public accusations against Davis came after he tweeted Friday about the disparity between Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s internship payment, which is $15 per hour, and that of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose office pays $8.25 an hour. Ocasio-Cortez initially quote-tweeted his tweet positively, but deleted the retweet after the accusations started pouring in.
“Hey all, note for transparency: yday I quote-tweeted someone noting that we pay interns a living wage,” the Democratic congresswoman tweeted Saturday. “It has since been brought to my attn that multiple survivors are speaking up about this individual. My heart breaks for them, and I am deleting the quote tweet in solidarity.”
Immediately after his Friday post began gaining traction — with help from Ocasio-Cortez’s retweet — former fellow Emerson College students began tweeting at him and about him, calling him “a gross abuser,” “emotionally violent” and “a known serial assaulter.”
“We take any allegations of sexual assault very seriously. The employee in question was immediately suspended and we have promptly launched an investigation. We have engaged outside counsel to take the lead on this,” said a spokesperson for NowThis Monday morning.
Davis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One individual who says they experienced the kind of behavior described in the tweeted accusations but did not make their own accusation public — and who still wishes to remain anonymous — told TheWrap in response to Davis’ suspension, “I hope NowThis will do the right thing and fire him. I hope NowThis looks into the choir of voices that have all concluded Jackson Davis is a predator who has abused his positions of power for years, unchecked.”