A top editor with the National Enquirer, and several of its sister properties, including Us Weekly and RadarOnline, went from being a gossip purveyor to part of the story this week, as accusations surfaced that he made sexually suggestive comments to female colleagues and forced reporters to watch pornographic movies during the workday.
Dylan Howard serves as the editor-in- chief of the National Enquirer and “oversees newsrooms” at both Us Weekly and Radar. It was in the latter capacity that he harassed his female colleagues, according to SPIN magazine. Howard allegedly “made sexually inappropriate comments to staff, commented on a female employee’s sex life, and forced staff members to watch pornographic materials of no reported news value.”
The Enquirer has, apparently, known about Howard’s behavior for some time — they commissioned an investigation into Howard’s on-campus activities back in 2012 — but weren’t able to punish Howard before he left to become the editor of CeleBuzz.com. He returned a year later, however, with a promotion and a pay raise, and no one even mentioned the previous allegations, the Associated Press contends.
Weirder still, Howard appears in several emails to Harvey Weinstein, released as part of a New Yorker investigation into the Hollywood media mogul, where he appears to collaborate with Weinstein to destroy the reputations and careers of actresses who claimed Weinstein sexually abused them.
Employees who spoke to AP said Howard liked to refer to himself as “Dildo” in the newsroom, and, on occasion, suggested that his female reporters sleep with sources to get information — something that’s not just a violation of decorum, but a severe ethical violation as well.
The women said they reported the comments to HR, but the outside lawyer who conducted the 2012 investigation told AP that the company did not think any of the allegations “rose to the level of harassment that would require termination.”
Howard says the accusations are “baseless.”