Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner is denying allegations from Emmy-winning former co-worker Kater Gordon that he sexually harassed her during the course of the show.
Gordon rose up the ranks on the critically-acclaimed AMC period drama from writers' assistant in the first season to staff writer in the third, when she won an Emmy for writing 'Meditations In An Emergency' with Weiner.
(Kater Gordon and Matthew Weiner accept the Outstanding Writing Emmy)
In an interview with The Information, Gordon alleged that Weiner approached her while they were working late in the second season and said that she "owed it to him to let him see [her] naked".
Gordon said she rejected Weiner's alleged proposition, and was let go a year later because her boss felt she had "fallen short" of his expectations. She has never written another film or TV episode.
"I had an Emmy, but instead of being able to use that as a launch pad for the rest of my career, it became an anchor because I felt I had to answer to speculative stories in the press," she remembered. "I eventually walked away instead of fighting back."
However, a spokesperson for Weiner denied Gordon's version of events to The Hollywood Reporter: "Mr. Weiner spent eight to ten hours a day writing dialogue aloud with Miss Gordon, who started on Mad Men as his writers assistant.
"He does not remember saying this comment nor does it reflect a comment he would say to any colleague. During the nine years he was showrunner on Mad Men, Mr. Weiner had a predominantly female driven writers room.
"He has long believed in and implemented an egalitarian working environment including the highest levels of production and writing based on mutual respect for all."
Weiner has most recently been working on another prestige drama, The Romanoffs, for Amazon Studios. This project — which reunites him with Mad Men's John Slattery and Christina Hendricks — was to have been produced by The Weinstein Company, but Amazon recently stepped in to take full control.
