Is Ryan Seacrest immune to the #MeToo movement?

Variety

Sonia Saraiya wonders why Seacrest has been seemingly unaffected by his sexual harassment scandal, details of which were reported this week in her publication Variety. "I can’t objectively defend Variety," she writes. "But I can observe that Seacrest is engaging in his own public-opinion chess, with a skill we haven’t seen from other accused men. Unlike them, Seacrest is a man whose primary marketable talent is continuing to be generally liked; he is a master of this form. And this behavior from him is a play — a belligerent, entitled, corporate-sponsored play that exploits the weaknesses in a system that is designed to work against victims of harassment. Seacrest and his publicity team have taken special note of how the judgment of crowds imperfectly aligns with the judgment of courts; of how, in the age of reality-star president Donald Trump, arrogant denial has surprising weight with the viewing audience. That Seacrest’s on-air persona is an appealingly inoffensive one adds to his power; if that persona is merely a performance, viewers at home don’t know the difference."

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