Keshet president Gilady steps aside after rape allegations

Alex Gilady Photo: Tamar Matsafi
Alex Gilady Photo: Tamar Matsafi

Four women have made allegations of sexual misconduct against Alex Gilady.

Alex Gilady, president of television franchise holder Keshet, yesterday notified his company's board of directors that he was "temporarily" leaving his post in the company following series accusations against him in recent days.

"I'm temporarily standing aside from Keshet in order to fight to prove my innocence of these unfounded allegations," a spokesperson for Gilady said. "I repeat and emphasize that these allegations are incorrect, and I will employ the necessary legal measures against these unfounded accusations."

Following Gilady's announcement, Keshet chairperson Drorit Wertheim stated, "Starting today, Gilady will not be president of Keshet."

Gilady is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and a former VP of US TV network NBC.

Four witnesses have made allegations against Gilady so far. Media personalities Oshrat Kotler and Neri Livneh described how Gilady allegedly harassed them on various occasions 20 years ago, and two other women whose names have not been revealed have now made much more serious allegations.

Yesterday's main Channel 10 news broadcast featured a woman who said that 20 years ago, she had gone to Gilady's home, and he had raped her there. Another woman told "Haaretz" that Gilady had raped her in the 1970s. Gilady absolutely denied both stories.

Keshet is going through tough times, after emails containing improper content sent to employees by company executive Yoram Zack in 2010 were revealed. Keshet CEO Avi Nir sent company employees an email yesterday, in which he wrote, "These are tough times for me and everyone else working at Keshet. I think that the main difficulty, at least for me, is the gap between our conduct and beliefs and the allegations against employees and managers in the organization and the organization itself. At the same time, when there are exceptional cases, we are obligated to handle them with determination, examine the serious allegations, and act accordingly, not according to external demands and pressures.

"Everyone working at Keshet knows the truth about this company and the norms guiding behavior in it. We who experience it every day may take it for granted, so I and my fellow executives find the things attributed to us especially painful. We are obligated to deal with them, however, just as we are able to deal with professional matters."

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on November 8, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

Alex Gilady Photo: Tamar Matsafi
Alex Gilady Photo: Tamar Matsafi
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