Neil DeGrasse Tyson Cleared Of Sexual Misconduct Charges, Staying As Head Of New York's Hayden Planetarium
NEW YORK (AP) — Astrophysicist and popular television personality Neil deGrasse Tyson will keep his job as head of the Hayden Planetarium in New York after being cleared of sexual misconduct charges.
New York's American Museum of Natural History said it had concluded its investigation into the accusations against the famed scientist, months after Tyson had been reinstated on his two television programs.
A museum spokesman said in a statement Thursday that based on the results of the investigation, Tyson "remains an employee and director of the Hayden Planetarium."
The statement said museum officials would not comment further "because this is a confidential personnel matter."
Tyson was accused of behaving inappropriately with two women in an article published in November on the website Patheos.
In one episode from 2009, Katelyn Allers, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, claimed Tyson put his hand under the shoulder part of her dress while exploring her tattoo of the solar system to see if it included Pluto. Allers said the alleged behavior was "creepy."
The second case involved Ashley Watson, who quit her job as an assistant for Tyson on the show "Cosmos" last year after what she claimed was inappropriate behavior on his part.
Watson accused Tyson of inviting her into his apartment and told her he wanted to hug her but if he did he'd "just want more."
Tyson responded to the allegations in a December Facebook post in which denied all of the allegations.
Fox Broadcasting and National Geographic cleared Tyson to return to the air on his television series "StarTalk" and "Cosmos" in March after investigating the same allegations.
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