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CNN suspended contributor Paris Dennard Wednesday following a report that the conservative commentator and Donald Trump supporter was fired from a university job in 2014 for sexually harassing women.
“We are aware of reports of accusations against Paris Dennard,” a network spokeswoman said in response to a Washington Post report on the allegations, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported. “We are suspending Paris, effective immediately, while we look into the allegations.”
Dennard got canned as events director for Arizona State University’s McCain Institute for International Leadership “for making sexually explicit comments and gestures toward women,” the Post reported, citing a university official and documents.
In one incident, Dennard reportedly told a recent graduate who worked for him that he wanted to have sex with her. The Post cited an ASU report indicating Dennard had “pretended to unzip his pants in her presence, tried to get her to sit on his lap, and made masturbatory gestures.”
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Dennard did not deny the claims in the report at the time, according to the Post, but said he had been joking. But he told the Post that he believed the allegations were false and declined to discuss specifics.
He did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Dennard, who has also contributed to The Hill and NPR, was a vocal supporter of Trump during the presidential campaign and later insisted that Trump’s alleged sexual indiscretions should have no impact on his presidency.
In a CNN broadcast earlier this year, Dennard argued with a Republican strategist who asserted that Trump’s alleged hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels were relevant: “You can dig up dirty laundry and I pray to God that nobody goes back in your past,” Dennard said.
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