Simon Cowell’s company Syco has brought in outside counsel amid the Gabrielle Union axing scandal.
Union will speak to the lawyers hired by Syco, NBC and producers Freemantle this week to discuss her time on “America’s Got Talent.”
A source confirmed to Page Six: “The companies are retaining outside counsel to assist us in learning more about the facts in this matter, starting with hearing from Gabrielle, which we expect to happen this week.”
“Gabrielle believes there is a toxicity that has become normalized at ‘Talent,’” an insider told Deadline on Monday. “She wants to help fix that, because she loved a lot of her time on the show last season, even with the issues with Simon and what have you. But she could never go back, even if they did a [180] and asked her to for another season — no.”
Union allegedly made a host of claims against the NBC show. She reportedly claimed that she was told her hair and wardrobe was “too black.”
She also reportedly complained about a never-aired joke by guest star Jay Leno — and illegal inside smoking by Cowell.
Union has now got overwhelming support from a raft of Hollywood stars.
NBC insiders told Page Six that producers on the TV talent hit had no knowledge of Union being given any demands over her hair, and said that she herself had told producers not to take her complaints over Leno to Human Resources.
Dropped from the show after just one season on Nov. 22, Union is believed to have retained Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman.
Freedman represented Megyn Kelly last year in her successful and ultimately lucrative exit from NBC News.
On Sunday, NBC and the producers put out another statement as the fallout from Union being “fired,” as her husband and NBA star Dwyane Wade said, intensified.
“We remain committed to ensuring a respectful workplace for all employees and take very seriously any questions about workplace culture,” the statement read. “We are working with Ms. Union through her representatives to hear more about her concerns, following which we will take whatever next steps may be appropriate.”
