Nat Geo has pulled chat show StarTalk off the air following multiple sexual misconduct allegations against presenter Neil deGrasse Tyson.
The Fox-owned cable channel – which will soon be acquired by Disney – has not yet cancelled the programme but has said it is keeping the show “on hiatus” as Fox Networks Group launches an investigation over the coming weeks.
StarTalk, which finds Tyson discussing science and technology with comedians and celebrities such as Big Bang Theory actor Simon Helberg and UFC commentator Joe Rogan, returned for its fifth, 20-episode series in November. It aired only three episodes when allegations against Tyson came about later that month, with Bucknell University’s Dr. Katelyn N. Allers claiming that Tyson groped her at a 2009 American Astronomical Society event.
Meanwhile, Tyson’s former assistant, Ashley Watson, also came forward, alleging that the presenter made a number of inappropriate sexual advances towards her.
Musician Tchiya Amet also spoke publicly against Tyson in early 2016, alleging that he had drugged and raped her in the early 1980s when they were both graduate students at the University of Texas Austin.
StarTalk’s disappearance from the schedule comes as Nat Geo readies the next series of Tyson’s vaunted Cosmos programme, which is set to air on both Fox and Nat Geo domestically, and across Nat Geo’s international channels on 4 March.
The new series comes five years after the initial Cosmos – a reboot of the 1980 doc series that became a runaway hit for Nat Geo.
Tyson narrates the programme, and appears on-screen throughout, making it difficult for the channel to replace him, if it becomes necessary.