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Ricky Gervais is responding to misconduct allegations against his long time collaborator and producer of “After Life”, Charlie Hanson.
Hanson was recently removed from a Netflix production after an anonymous email accusing him of misconduct was sent. The Times revealed this weekend that the production was season 3 of “After Life” and that 11 women have come forward.
“I am shocked and appalled to learn of the historical allegations made by a number of women against Charlie Hanson. The decision was made to immediately remove him from production and I am confident the matter is being handled thoroughly,” said Gervais in a statement.
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Hanson also produced Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s “Derek” and “Life’s Too Short”.
“Charlie Hanson is a predator who uses his reputation, connections and standing in order to groom far younger, impressionable and sometimes vulnerable women into trusting him,” the letter said in part according to the British publication. The same letter was sent to BAFTA.
In a statement to Deadline, Netflix said, “On Monday, we received an anonymous email containing historical allegations about a producer on one of our titles. Whilst the allegations are unrelated to his time on the show, we immediately removed him from the production and referred the matter to the police.”
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Hanson denied the allegations, with his lawyer telling Variety, “Our client is shocked and appalled by these historical and false allegations of improper conduct towards women. He maintains that he has never acted inappropriately on any production, or at all, and has never had any complaints made about his conduct over the course of many decades in the media industry.”
In the same statement from his lawyer, Hanson added, “I have been made aware of allegations made against me concerning improper conduct towards women dating back many years. Based on the summaries that have been provided to me, I understand that many of these accusations are made anonymously and are demonstrably false. I have not had one complaint in decades of work in the media industry. I categorically reject any wrongdoing on my part, and strongly refute the allegations that have been levelled at me. I have worked with and supported hundreds of men and women during my working life and will do what is necessary to protect and/or restore my reputation. I will also cooperate with any formal inquiries. The matter is now in the hands of my solicitors.”