Mark Halperin, a senior political analyst and frequent contributor for NBC News and MSNBC, acknowledged Wednesday night that he had engaged in “inappropriate” behavior around women he worked with while he was at ABC News and said he would “take a step back from my day-to-day work.”
Halperin apologized for having pursued “relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me,” in a statement to CNN, which quoted five women as saying Halperin sexually harassed them when he was a top political journalist at ABC News.
CNN said it hadn’t learned of any incidents after Halperin left ABC News in 2007 after two decades. None of the women reported the alleged incidents — which NBC News has not verified — to ABC News management, according to CNN, which said it wasn’t identifying the women because they feared retribution.
NBC News said it had no comment. Halperin didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment. In a statement to CNN, ABC News said: “Mark left ABC News over a decade ago, and no complaints were filed during his tenure.”
Halperin told CNN: “I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I’m going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation.”
Halperin, who worked for NBC News, MSNBC, Bloomberg Politics and Time magazine after he left ABC News, rejoined NBC News and MSNBC as a contributor and senior political analyst in March. He is a regular guest on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and on NBC News broadcasts.
He is the co-author, with John Heilemann, of “Game Change,” about the 2008 presidential campaign, and “Double Down: Game Change 2012.” They were among the co-producer of the Showtime political documentary series “The Circus,” the second season of which aired this year.