“American Idol” fans want one of the original hosts back on the show after longtime host Ryan Seacrest has been mired by sexual harassment allegations.
A petition on Care2 has now gained over 3000 signatures to bring back Brian Dunkleman for the “American Idol” reboot on ABC.
Via Press Release:
In the midst of sexual harassment allegations facing longtime American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, a Care2 petition is asking the show to replace Seacrest with Brian Dunkleman, who co-hosted the show’s very first season alongside Seacrest back in 2002. The Care2 petition has gathered over 3,000 signatures.
VIEW THE CARE2 PETITION HERE: http://www.care2.com/go/z/Dunkleman
“Seacrest has had his time in the sun and it has rocketed his career to fame. It is time for someone else to step in,” writes Care2 petition author Alison Perris.
Many stars snubbed Seacrest on the Oscars red carpet Sunday after his former stylist accused him of sexual harassment. Suzie Hardy claims Seacrest repeatedly gave her unwanted hugs, grabbed her crotch, and slapped her buttocks. A former co-worker of Hardy’s says he saw Seacrest push Hardy’s head into his crotch while she was tying his shoes.
Dunkleman took to Twitter and alluded to the recent allegations against Seacrest on March 3.
“Even sadder than pushing someones [sic] head in your crotch while they tie your shoes is anyone over the age of 5 having someone tie their shoes,” Dunkelman wrote.
As for why Dunkleman left after season one, it remains somewhat of a mystery.
“Did I quit? Did I get fired? All these years later, I still don’t know for sure,” Dunkleman wrote in a 2016 piece for Variety. “I probably beat them to the punch. I wanted to have an acting career, and I knew that leaving when I did would give me the best shot of accomplishing that. Still working on it. But the undeniable truth is, I just didn’t have the wisdom at the time to handle what was happening. Do I regret not remaining on the show now that it’s coming to an end? Yes. Especially when I open my bank statements. But without the benefit of hindsight, I would have done the exact same thing.”
An E! News investigation found insufficient evidence to discipline Seacrest.
A separate Care2 petition asking celebrities to boycott Seacrest on the red carpet Sunday gathered over 20,000 signatures.
Update:
The petition was unsucessful and in January 2019, it was reported that Brian Dunkleman was an Uber Driver.