Dwyane Wade has been supportive of his wife Gabrielle Union during her ongoing battle with the NBC show America’s Got Talent over her allegations of racism and sexism while being a judge on the reality series last year. But the former Miami Heat star reveals new allegations including his family being watched while Union and the producers were working on negotiations to try to make a more effective working environment. Wade went to Twitter to respond to a Tweet from New York Magazine and Huffington Post writer Yashar Ali who reported Union is filing a complaint with NBC Universal on the cultural and workplace issues.
“When these negotiations started my house started being watched and my family started being followed,” he wrote. “My daughter couldn’t even go to swim class without us being trailed by people looking for answers. Well y’all have the answers and y’all still don’t wanna listen to them.” Before that tweet, Wade sent on a few more Tweets defending Union after being called a “liar.” As part of Union’s complaint, she alleged NBC Entertainment chairman Paul Telgedy tied to “silence and intimidate” her.
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In a statement, NBC said: “The allegation that anyone involved in this process threatened Ms. Union is categorically untrue. We took Ms. Union’s concerns seriously, and engaged an outside investigator who found an overarching culture of diversity on the show. NBCUniversal remains committed to creating an inclusive and supportive working environment where people of all backgrounds are treated with respect.”
One of the other things that stand out in the complaint is her former co-star Juliane Hough. Union called out NBC’s decision to hire Hough for attending a Halloween party in 2013 dressed as Uzo Aduba’s character on Orange Is the New Black, having darkened her skin. The suit stated “Combining someone who so openly wore blackface with someone who is black and regularly advocates on behalf of minorities should have at least alerted Telegdy that this could cause Union to experience some trepidation or concern about being unprotected from racially insensitive individuals while working as a judge on AGT.”
Union was hired to be a judge on the show last year and appeared on Season 14. But NBC did not hire her back for another season after allegedly speaking out against racism. Season 15 of America’s Got Talent premiered on May 26.
