'Mad Men' creator accused of sexual harassment by writer on the show
Man Men creator Matthew Weiner has been accused of harassment by a former writer on the hit AMC drama.
Kater Gordon, who joined the show as Weiner's personal assistant before working her way up to writers assistant and staff writer, told The Information of an incident eight years ago in which Weiner allegedly told her she owed it to him to let him see her naked.
Gordon says she "froze and tried to brush [the comments] off" Indiewire reports, but thought that standing up to him would "end her career."
A spokesperson for Weiner said in a statement: "Mr Weiner spent eight to ten hours a day writing dialogue aloud with Miss Gordon, who started on Mad Men as his writers assistant. He does not remember saying this comment nor does it reflect a comment he would say to any colleague."
As it happens, she was let go from the show a year after the alleged incident -- after winning an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series in 2009 -- fueling widespread speculation. Essentially onlookers were asking: Why would an award-winning writer be kicked off the team?
Gordon is forming a nonprofit, Modern Alliance, in aid of victims of sexual harassment. Weiner is currently working on drama series The Romanoffs for Amazon.
A rep for Weiner did not immediately respond to Mashable's request for further comment about the allegation.
Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
