"We aren't commenting on false allegations," an Ora.TV spokeswoman said.Television legend Larry King's latest employer, Ora.TV, is now defending him from a sexual misconduct allegation lodged against him in the Daily Mail on Dec. 11.
"We aren’t commenting on false allegations," a spokeswoman for the company said in an email on Monday to The Hollywood Reporter. She did not respond when asked if the broadcaster, which is backed by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, has investigated the allegations.
In the report, a woman accused King of touching her inappropriately while taking photos with her in 2005 and 2006. In one instance, the woman said that King "slid his hand down her backless dress and rested his fingers in between her butt cheeks." In the second instance, the women alleged that King "squeezed her butt so hard that it left a large bruise."
King's lawyer called the allegation "entirely and unequivocally false and defamatory." The lawyer, Bert Fields, reportedly said he intends to sue the publication; a spokesman for the Daily Mail has not yet responded to a query about whether a legal action has been filed.
King launched his interview show, Larry King Now, in 2012. King spent more than two decades at CNN before retiring his show in 2010. A spokeswoman for the network did not respond to a question about whether allegations were ever made against King while he worked there.
King's show has not been sidelined, and he hasn't shied away from discussing sexual harassment on the air. King asked Top Chef star Padma Lakshmi, who guested on the Dec. 20 version of the show, if she experienced harassment during her modeling career. He then asked her why she didn't report that harassment. "Do you think it's good that it's all coming out now?" he asked Lakshmi.
During the segment, King also asked Lakshmi about the allegations of sexual misconduct lodged against former Today co-anchor Matt Lauer. "Why does someone as successful as a Matt Lauer — what does he need that for? That's a psychological thing." Summing up the reaction to the Lauer revelations, King said, "I guess we assume the successful people are decent."