00:00Actress Jacinda Barrett is defending her ex-boyfriend Chris Hardwick amid the sexual
00:05misconduct scandal swirling around him. Earlier this month, Chloe Dykstra accused an unnamed
00:10mogul ex-boyfriend of abusing and sexually assaulting her, and many online assumed Hardwick
00:15was the subject of her claims. The TV personality and Nerdist founder denied Dykstra's
00:20allegations, writing in part that their relationship was not perfect, but in no time
00:25did I sexually assault her. Despite his denial, AMC pulled his series Talking with
00:29Chris Hardwick, and he was removed from moderating two panels at Comic-Con in San Diego next month.
00:35Meanwhile, NBC, which airs the Hardwick-hosted game show The Wall, said it is still assessing
00:40the situation. Nerdist also removed all references to Hardwick from its website.
00:45Barrett, who most recently starred in Netflix's dark family drama Bloodline, dated and was
00:50ultimately engaged to Hardwick in the 90s, back when he was hosting MTV Singled Out, and she was
00:56known from her time as a real-world cast member and model. Barrett is now married to suit star
01:00Gabriel Macht. In an Instagram post, she called out the court of public opinion for quickly
01:05determining Hardwick to be guilty. She posted an image of original prose on Instagram that read,
01:10Imagine you are in a courtroom. A person walks in and in their own words reads a statement
01:15accusing you of wrongdoing. The punishment for this crime is to lose your livelihood, legacy,
01:20reputation and to be publicly shamed. Without examination of evidence, without due course,
01:25the judge turns to everyone there and says, what do you think? Guilty? She captioned the photo,
01:30This past week, I have watched someone I once loved and shared four years of my life with be publicly
01:36accused of misconduct and abuse, then swiftly fired and shunned. The accuser's story bears
01:42no resemblance to the one I shared with him all those years ago, but what is of supreme importance
01:47here is that every woman and every man deserves a voice. Accuser and accused. Everyone deserves
01:53to be heard. A rush to judgment denies the right to due process. The MeToo movement deserves due process.
01:59She also included hashtag Chris Hardwick and his Instagram handle. Barrett's post comes after
02:05Hardwick's wife, Lydia Hurst, released a statement in support of her husband. Hurst, who married
02:10Hardwick in 2016, said she would not give credence to any of these accusations and reaffirmed
02:15her complete support of her husband. She wrote, in part,
02:18For more on this story, head to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News,
02:29I'm Tiffany Taylor.
Comments