Sheryl Lee Ralph says she was sexually assaulted by ‘famous TV judge’

Sheryl Lee Ralph says she’s had a “terrible” experience of sexual harassment throughout her career, but has always been reluctant to talk about it.

The star of the series Abbott Elementary School said this in an interview on Monday on the channelWay up with Angela Yipodcast that a “famous TV judge” once assaulted her during a work event. She did not name the judge. The Emmy Award winner clarified that this is not Judge Greg Mathis, whom she loves and considers “a great man.”

“I am in a very crowded place. suited me. I was doing my own thing for a TV show I was on at the time,” Ralph said. “We were on the same network. This man came in, grabbed my neck from behind, turned me around and stuck his nasty tongue down my throat. And everyone on the web saw it.”

Ralph said that one of the few people who came to her defense was Mark Morial, who at the time was the mayor of New Orleans. Ralph said she called him shortly after the incident and he offered to take action against her attacker, but her network urged her not to report the crime.

“Someone on the net patted me on the shoulder and said, ‘Please don’t,’” Ralph said. “They didn’t want bad press around their show and they didn’t care what just happened to me.”

Ralph recalled witnesses telling her, “After all, it wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“These things happen,” Ralph continued. “That’s why it’s hard for women to talk about these things.”

Ralph with her "moishe" fellow cast members who celebrated their 100th release in 2001.  The show aired on UPN from 1996 to 2001.
Ralph and his Moesha co-stars celebrate their 100th release in 2001. The show aired on UPN from 1996 to 2001.

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Earlier in the episode, Ralph shared a different story in which she said that an unnamed man pointedly laid a hand on her when he “didn’t know” her at all. She said this was the third time this had happened to her, and she couldn’t help but wonder, “What did I do to deserve this?”

“What made this man think that he could just walk up and put his hands on my body?”

Ralph said years later that she was at dinner and the man was sitting directly across from her and didn’t seem to remember the incident. Ralph said she took the opportunity to confront him.

“Do you want to know what shocked you?” Ralph asked. “Everyone at the table was shocked that I stood up for myself. I was told that I should be ashamed of myself, and why should I even talk about it, and even at the dinner table.

Ralph may feel more empowered to speak out thanks to her growing fame. Although Ralph had pretty wonderful career, she has recently become a household name thanks to her Emmy-winning role in Abbott Elementary.

During her Emmy’s famous speech in 2022, Ralph told an audience, “This is what aspiration looks like. And never, never give up.”

Conversation with HuffPost earlier that year, Ralph shared her positive experience working on her hit ABC sitcom, which sounds like the antithesis of whatever network she was working on when she was attacked.

“I’m so grateful that I was able to last so long in my career and enjoy this show during this time,” she said.