The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 4 premiered last night and Bravo isn’t shying away from the sexual assault accusations against one of its stars. During the filming for the fourth season, a crew member accused Michael Darby of groping and grabbing his butt.
It didn’t take long for the accusations to reach social media, and court documents were filed against Darby.
“As I turned around he smiled and gave me a flirtatious look,” the cameraman stated in court documents. These documents were filed in September 2018 while filming was underway.
The Bravo employee told Michael to stop and he reported the incident after it happened to his supervisors. It’s reported that he also tried to get a restraining order, clearly feeling very uncomfortable about the situation.
Bravo suspended all filming with Darby in late September.
Michael Darby was charged with felony assault and misdemeanor improper sexual conduct. He faced 11 years behind bars. However, just weeks later in early October 2018, prosecutors dropped all charges.
Ramon Korionoff, the Public Affairs Director for Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, revealed that they were unable to talk to the cameraman for more information and no witnesses saw the actual incident happen.
“The complaining witness states there were no witnesses who actually saw the incident, however, that he did inform his supervisors immediately after,” Korionoff told PEOPLE magazine about the incident. “He provided several contact numbers for his supervisors, however, no one ever called us back. We called the complaining witness to update him, however, he hasn’t returned our call.”
“Our good name and reputation have been upheld through the abandonment of this case by the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office. It is unfortunate that high-profile people are often sought out as targets, and in this situation, someone tried to take advantage of me,” Michael said in a statement after the charges were dropped.
Since the scandal, Michael and Ashley Darby have announced that they are pregnant with their first child.
The Real Housewives of Potomac airs Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo.