National Geographic and Fox announced this week that they’ve concluded their investigations into sexual assault allegations levied against astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson, confirming that they’ll be moving forward with him as host on both his Nat Geo chat show StarTalk, as well as on the upcoming season of Cosmos. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the networks issued a somewhat terse joint statement on Friday, noting that, “The investigation is complete, and we are moving forward with both StarTalk and Cosmos. StarTalk will return to the air with the remaining 13 episodes in April on National Geographic, and both Fox and National Geographic are committed to finding an air date for Cosmos. There will be no further comment.”
The allegations against Tyson came to light back in late 2018, when three women—including a former assistant—accused him of acting in a sexually inappropriate manner with them. At the same time, attention was also focused on an allegation of sexual assault made against him several years ago by a former graduate school colleague. Tyson later issued a statement denying that the assault happened. He also made it clear that, while the other incidents probably did take place, he interpreted them differently than the women in question, and said he welcomed an investigation into his conduct.
The second season of Cosmos, titled Possible Worlds, was supposed to air earlier this month, but was delayed while the investigations into the host’s behavior were ongoing.
