The 45-year-old producer reveals that he 'did the cowardly, easiest, laziest thing you can do' because he was unsure of how to grapple with his feelings towards the writer.
- Jan 12, 2018
AceShowbiz - Last week, TV comedy writer Megan Ganz called out "Community" creator Dan Harmon, who's her former boss, for alleged sexual harassment. Days after that, Harmon admitted the accusation in an episode of his "Harmontown" podcast, describing how he pursued and harassed Ganz while they worked together.
Without mentioning Ganz's name, Harmon began his confession by saying that he was "attracted to a writer that I had power over because I was a showrunner." He added that he knew that his feelings for her "were bad news," but he was unsure of how to grapple with his feelings.
"I knew I wasn't doing anybody any favors by feeling these things and so I did the cowardly, easiest, laziest things you can do with these feelings like that," he went on revealing. "Flirty, creepy, everything other than overt enough to constitute betraying your live-in girlfriend who you're going home to every night."
Harmon eventually broke up with his girlfriend and declared his love for Ganz, who rejected him as she thought that his attention made it impossible to do her job well. After the rejection, Harmon revealed that he was acting more resentful and vindictive towards Ganz, undermining her as a writer and damaging his show in the process.
"I lost my job. I ruined my show. I betrayed the audience. I destroyed everything, and I damaged her internal compass," he continued. "I moved on, and I never did it before and I'll never do it again, but I certainly wouldn't have been able to do it if I had any respect for women. On a fundamental level, I was thinking about them as different creatures. I was thinking about the ones that I liked as having some special role in my life and I did it all by not thinking about it."
He concluded his confession by saying, "No matter who you are at work, no matter where you work, in what field you're in, no matter what position you have over, under or side by side with somebody, just think about it. Because if you don't think about it, you're going to get away with not thinking about it and you can cause a lot of damage that is technically legal and hurts everybody."
In response to Harmon's extended apology, Ganz shared on Twitter the podcast episode and told her followers that it was a good example of how to try to set things right. "I find myself in the odd position of having requested an apology publicly, and then having receiving one -- a good one -- also publicly. I waited 6 years for it, but you can find it in 18:38 in," she tweeted.
I’m not being flippant. I didn’t bring up this mess just to sweep it back under the rug. But I find myself in the odd position of having requested an apology publicly, and then having received one—a good one—also publicly. I waited 6 years for it, but you can find it 18:38 in.
— Megan Ganz (@meganganz) 11 Januari 2018
"It is a masterclass in How to Apologize," she added in a follow-up tweet. "He's not rationalizing or justifying or making excuses. He doesn't just vaguely acknowledge some general wrongdoing in the past. He gives a full account."
Please listen to it. It’s only seven minutes long, but it is a masterclass in How to Apologize. He’s not rationalizing or justifying or making excuses. He doesn’t just vaguely acknowledge some general wrongdoing in the past. He gives a full account.
— Megan Ganz (@meganganz) 11 Januari 2018
