“Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner has been accused of sexual harassment by his former personal assistant and staff writer Kater Gordon. In an interview with The Information, the Emmy Award- winning writer alleged that Weiner made a sexually explicit remark while they were working on the series. Gordon claimed that while she was working with Weiner late one night, she alleged that, “He told me that I owed it to him to let him see me naked.” She said she “froze” and tried to ignore the comments. The pair then continued writing the episode. Gordon began working as Weiner’s personal assistant in 2007. Less than a year later, she was promoted to writer’s assistant and eventually she said Weiner invited her to co- write that season’s finale with him, for which they won an Emmy in September 2009.
She said that while she had told the story to her close ones over the years, she did not officially report the incident for fear of losing her job. I knew immediately that when he crossed the boundary. But I didn’t know what my options were,” she said. One year after the alleged incident, Gordon was let go from the series. Gordon claims Weiner called to tell her that her contract would not be renewed. He told me I was terrible at everything.”From my work in the writers room to on set.
“I had the Emmy, but instead of being able to use that as a launch pad for the rest of my career, it became an anchor because I felt I had to answer to speculative stories in the press. I eventually walked away instead of fighting back,” she added. Gordon said she lost her passion to write following the alleged incident and is now creating a nonprofit to aid victims of sexual harassment called Modern Alliance. Responding to the allegations a PR representative for Weiner said, “Mr Weiner spent eight to ten hours a day writing dialogue aloud with Miss Gordon, who started on Mad Men as a writers assistant. He does not remember saying this comment nor does it reflect a comment he would say to any colleague.
