Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph has revealed that she was sexually assaulted years ago by a “famous TV judge”—and was subsequently silenced by network executives who saw what happened.
Ralph, 66, opened up about the alleged incident during an interview on the Way Up with Angela Yee podcast earlier this week.
“I’m at a very public place,” she recalled. “I was suited. I had my suit on. I was handling my business for the television show I was on at that time. He and I were on the same network.”
“This man walked in, grabbed me by the back of my neck, turned me around and rammed his nasty-ass tongue down my throat,” she continued. “And everybody at the network saw it.”
The Emmy winner revealed that she had spoken about the incident to Marc Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans who was in office from 1994 to 2002. During that time frame, Ralph was a cast member on the hit show Moesha on the now-defunct UPN network. Ralph said Morial asked her if he wanted him to “send the police down there.” “We will fix this,” she recalled him saying. However, the network wanted Ralph to remain silent.
“Somebody on the network tapped me on the shoulder saying, ‘Please don’t,’” Ralph said. “They did not want any bad press around their show and did not care what had just happened to me.”
Ralph didn’t name her alleged assailant, but clarified that it was not Greg Mathis, whose syndicated show Judge Mathis began in 1999.
“I love him,” she said about the television star. “He’s a great man—not him at all. He’s a great man. This was another one.”
The Dreamgirls actress went on to say that experiences like hers “make it hard for women to speak about these things,” but encouraged women to keep speaking out about sexual assault.
“Speak up,” Ralph said. “Tell your truth. Do not carry the burden of the pain… especially if you feel like it’s something you can’t work through.”
