Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Courtesy of CNN
A former summer intern for NBC Sports claims Michael Bass, a powerful media industry player who later served as CNN’s programming chief, sexually assaulted her in an Atlanta hotel room during their coverage of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Aarthi Rajaraman, who was a 20-year-old college student at the time, says in a newly filed lawsuit obtained by The Daily Beast that the alleged attack “triggered a downward spiral of excessive drinking, eating disorders, self-contempt, undermining romantic relationships, and even suicidal ideation.” Rajaraman believes Bass “blackballed” her from becoming a full-time broadcast journalist “because she had refused to willingly engage with him sexually,” according to the complaint. Rajaraman’s life was “derailed” by the attack, it says, while Bass’ career “only thrived and grew in prominence.”
“More than 20 years passed until the #metoo movement and NBC’s ouster of Matt Lauer for similarly unchecked misconduct helped provide [Rajaraman] with the courage, understanding and resolve to, in 2020, contact a lawyer about Defendant Bass’s assault of her during the 1996 Summer Olympics,” the complaint states. “[Rajaraman] finally understood she had been a victim without a voice or recourse, not the one to blame. [Bass] had used his power and clout to proceed as if nothing happened, while [Rajaraman] was made to pay the emotional and career damages.”