Five women have accused Mark Halperin of sexual harassment while he held a powerful position while at ABC News, according to several women, who say they either experienced the alleged harassment or witnessed it.
Halperin – who’s currently an analyst for NBC News and makes regular appearances on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” – was the political director at ABC News when the alleged incidents happened, CNN reported Wednesday evening.
CNN’s report prompted the following statement from Halperin:
During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me. I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I’m going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation.
The stories of the women who spoke to CNN ranged from Halperin allegedly pressuring them for sex to pressing an erection against their body.
It is important to note that none of the women who spoke to CNN reported directly to Halperin, but they did work with him and he did have “a voice in some critical personnel decisions.”
The first woman who spoke to CNN said her alleged incident with Halperin happened in “the early 2000s,” while he wielded power as the political director at ABC News.
“I went up to have a soda and talk and… he just kissed me and grabbed my boobs,” the woman recalled. “I just froze. I didn’t know what to do.”
The second woman who spoke with CNN – who was 25 years old at the time – said she experienced a similar incident in Halperin’s office during the 2004 campaign cycle.
“The first meeting I ever had with him was in his office and he just came up from behind – I was sitting in a chair from across his desk – and he came up behind me and [while he was clothed] he pressed his body on mine, his penis, on my shoulder,” the woman said.
The second woman went on to say that Halperin continued to pressure her after the incident and propositioned her for sex while on the road covering the campaign.
“It was more like him coming up too close to me and sort of along the lines of hugging me,” the second woman told CNN. “He would say, ‘Why don’t you meet me upstairs?’ And I would say, ‘That’s not a good idea.’ And he would push the request further.”
A third woman told CNN that Halperin trapped her in a bathroom and propositioned her to go into another bathroom with him “to do something.”
“I excused myself to go to the bathroom and he was standing there when I opened the door propositioning [me] to go into the other bathroom to do something,” the third woman told CNN. “It freaked me out. I came out of the ladies’ room and he was just standing there. Like almost blocking the door.”
Two additional women spoke to CNN about alleged incidents they had with Halperin in – in which he allegedly acted sexually inappropriate towards them – but did not want to give quotes about their experiences.