Former “GMA” producer Michael Corn accused of sexually assaulting two women

A former prominent “Good Morning America” ​​producer has been accused of sexually assaulting two female employees and fostering a “toxic” work culture hostile to women, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Kirstyn Crawford, 31, producer and presenter of George Stephanopoulos on “GMA,” said the show’s executive producer Michael Corn sexually assaulted her after a work party while he was drunk, according to her lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The alleged incident happened in February 2015 when Crawford was in Los Angeles with the team covering the Oscars.

Crawford claims that another former employee, Jill McClain, was also sexually assaulted by Corn in 2010 and 2011 and that after the women shared stories earlier this year, they reported the assaults to ABC in February, explain court documents.

As a result, ABC forced Corn, who had run ‘GMA’ since 2014, to resign in April – Variety reporting at the time that he left abruptly, stunning some staff.

“However, in keeping with ABC’s culture of sweeping sexual assault under the rug to protect its brand, ABC has not publicly acknowledged Corn’s misdeeds,” the lawsuit accuses.

In the 2015 incident, Crawford called an Uber to return to the hotel after the other staff left to continue the party at another location. But to his “surprise, Corn then joined Crawford in the Uber,” the suit alleges.

During the ride, Corn “grabbed Crawford’s hand and told him he wanted to be able to help him with his career,” according to court documents.

Then he pulled his head “into his chest and kept telling her to” relax “and kept asking” why are you so tense? “”, says the file.

He kissed her and rubbed her legs as she tried to “pull away” several times as he “pulled her right back”, according to court documents.

When they arrived at the hotel, Corn allegedly claimed to have lost his room key in a “sneaky ploy” to enter Crawford’s room. So, in an effort not to show him where his room was, Crawford instead accompanied Corn to his room, according to the costume.

As Crawford sat on the corner of her bed at Corn’s invitation, he “pulled” her onto the bed and pulled her head to his chest “before kissing the top of her head, stroking her. hair and stroking her arm, according to court documents.

He told Crawford – who was “frozen with fear” – “shh, let’s just lay here,” before she managed to slip out and return to her own room, according to the file.

But Corn then burst into his bedroom, where Crawford begged him to leave, which he eventually did, the costume explains.

In 2017, ABC learned of Corn’s sexual assault against Crawford, but they “did nothing to protect the plaintiff or remove Corn from his position of power,” court documents say.

Corn is also accused of sexually assaulting McClain, who worked for Diane Sawyer at the time on “World News Tonight”. Once on a flight from Los Angeles to New York in September 2010, Corn – sitting next to McClain – rubbed “the top of her right thigh with her left hand,” then “slid her hand off the top of her thigh. McClain’s right to her vagina, “and began to rub” her vagina, on her jeans, “the suit alleges.

Then, in April 2011, while the team was in London to cover Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, a drunken corn broke into McClain’s hotel room and sexually assaulted her, according to the documents. judicial.

Corn hugged McClain and pushed her onto the bed, pulling down the top of her jumpsuit and bra and groping her bare chest, according to the costume.

McClain pushed him and yelled at him to get out, which he did “angrily,” the record claims.

The lawsuit says Corn fostered a “toxic” work environment where he looked down on women, which made Crawford fearful of reporting his abuse.

“Corn perpetuated a terrible culture of bullying and drinking at ABC in which employees were pressured by their peers to drink excessively and belittled if they refused to participate in the culture of drinking. “, alleges the lawsuit.

Crawford is suing ABC and Corn for unspecified damages. McClain is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit because the statute of limitations for bringing an action has expired, according to court documents.

Her attorney, Milton Williams Jr., told The Post: “For Kirstyn and Jill, who supports her, the healing process has begun.”

ABC and Corn separately did not immediately return requests for comment.