INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on Sunday denied allegations by three women of sexual misconduct spanning several decades.Tyson, 60, who
has built a successful career on television and in his books explaining and popularizing science, had remained largely silent as three
different women lodged complaints dating as far back as 1984.But on Sunday, in a lengthy Facebook post, he responded."For a variety of
reasons," he wrote, "most justified, some unjustified, men accused of sexual impropriety in today's 'me-too' climate are presumed to be
guilty by the court of public opinion."While calling himself a "loving husband a scientist and educator," he wrote that "accusations can
damage a reputation and a marriage
Sometimes irreversibly."In the first case, a woman alleged that Tyson drugged and raped her when both were graduate students at the
University of Texas in 1984
he remembered "being intimate only a few times, all at her apartment, but the chemistry wasn't there There was nothing otherwise odd or
unusual about this friendship."The scientist said he was stunned more than 30 years later to read that he was being accused "of drugging and
raping a woman I did not recognize by either photo or name" (she had since married).Tyson said the allegation stemmed "from an assumption of
what happened to her during a night that she cannot remember as though a false memory had been implanted."In 2009, he said, a colleague
approached him at a conference to ask for a photograph.She had a tattoo of the solar system that reached up her arm
Tyson admits he likely "search(ed) for Pluto at the top of her shoulder," but said that he was surprised to hear later that she thought he
had been "creepy" and had "groped" her."That was never my intent and I'm deeply sorry to have made her feel that way," he wrote.The third
allegation dates from this summer
After spending many hours on a project working with a female production assistant, he said, he had invited her to his place for wine and
She viewed the invite as an attempt to seduce her."Tyson also admitted having "clumsily" told her more than once that "if I hug you I might
just want more." And Tyson said he had offered her a "special" handshake -- which she said seemed overly intimate -- that he said he had
learned "from a Native elder on reservation land at the edge of the Grand Canyon."Fox Broadcasting and National Geographic, which air
Tyson's popular show "Cosmos," have said they are investigating his conduct.The American Museum of Natural History in New York is also
looking into the accusations, The New York Times reported
Tyson directs the Hayden Planetarium there.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is
published from a syndicated feed.)
