Chile! Former BET CEO Debra Lee is having a tell-it-all moment, and it’s nothing we expected (or did we?).
In an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts Tuesday, Debra revealed that she and BET founder Bob Johnson had an intimate affair while both were married to other people and why she chose to disclose it in her tell-all memoir “I Am Debra Lee.”
Debra discussed the ordeal, first calling Johnson a “mentor” who is indisputably responsible for her success in BET before detailing the timeline of their affair.
“I wanted to tell that story because power dynamics are so important in a relationship, especially if you’re having a relationship with someone you work for. We all know the potential pitfalls. I worked for Bob Johnson for ten years before we had a personal, romantic relationship,” Debra said.
“He was a mentor, and he pushed me, and he was responsible for a lot of my success. We did have a relationship while we were both married, we ended up both divorced, and then people knew about the relationship. The company knew we started going places together.”
“The downfall of a relationship like that is if you want to get out of it. It came, and I wanted to break up. I saw it wasn’t a long-term relationship. And my job and my career was held over my head,” she added.
“If you want to break up with me, you can leave tomorrow,” Debra claims Johnson told her after attempting to call their “relationship” quits. “That was 20 years into my career at BET, so I would’ve lost everything.”
In another interview with The Washington Post, Debra further discussed in detail how her career hung in the balance as she ever tried to end the affair.
“Oh yeah, I was told that many times,” she revealed. “It’s like, ‘Okay if you’re going to break up with me, let’s get on the phone and tell people you are leaving right now.”
“And as a working mother, how does one recover from something like that? How does one say, ‘The man I worked for 20 years won’t give me a recommendation and fired me because we were in a relationship, and now it’s over,” Debra continued.
Bob Johnson, 76, would leave BET for good in 2005, with Debra, 68 taking the reigns as the network’s Chairperson and CEO until 2018.
“What saved me was therapy, and eventually, Bob left the company, and I became CEO, and I was CEO for 13 years without him being there and…to live my dream without any form of harassment,” she said, adding that after the rise of the #MeToo and the #Time’sUp Movements, she started recontextualizing the affair to ask herself how much consent she actually had in and during its development.
On why she needed to reveal the relationship with Johnson in her memoir, Debra said:
“We’ve heard so much about the guys who come to the door with their robe open, and they come out naked. That wasn’t the kind of experience I had. … It turned into a situation where my job was at issue anytime I thought about breaking up the relationship.”
She continued:
“That’s very much sexual harassment, but it’s a different kind of sexual harassment. I wanted young women to know that if you’re in a relationship that’s uneven in terms of the power structure, that it can turn abusive.”
Watch Debra Lee’s interview with Robins below:
And, as usual, people had something to say about it. So, here goes:
My jaw was on the floor watching this interview. But @RobinRoberts didn’t seem to react, so I wondered if this was all common knowledge. If so, I completely missed it. WHAT A MESS. pic.twitter.com/hbbvZLtnNw
— Alissa (Uh-LEASE-Ah) (@AlissaHenryTV) March 7, 2023
and
Makes sense. I saw them hugged up in a lounge in DC in 2006. We were wondering if it was really them. It was. We were mostly surprised at the indiscretion, as there was no hiding at all.
But the power dynamic she speaks of is real.
— Bärí A. Williams, Esq. (@BariAWilliams) March 8, 2023
and
This is real. I know this must have been so difficult for her to talk about. You can see it on her face and body language. But it’s also going to help a lot of women who see it.
(P.S. I do not judge her for cheating on her husband. That’s not my business.)
— Arlan ?? (@ArlanWasHere) March 7, 2023
and
I’m actually grateful for her honesty. That is going to help a lot of women in similar situation in the future… Never compromise your standards for a relationship.
— Brianna Dahlquist (@bridahlquist) March 8, 2023
and
Yes there was a power dynamic that prevented her from leaving the relationship but she knew the risk before starting the inappropriate relationship and felt the reward was greater. Technically it paid off, but at the cost of her mental health, but she brought that on herself.
— Juju (@JuJuBreauxD) March 7, 2023
and
that’s right. but I think her point is they both made this decision but he would have walked away with his career and she would not have. the power differential.
— Rhana Natour (@RNatourious) March 7, 2023
and
Must be a hell of a book…
— Leta McCollough Seletzky, JD (@LaSeletzky) March 8, 2023
and
So she slept with the boss and became CEO …. This explains why BET was pushing negative imagery to the community. No morals in the front office
— Paperboy Prince is my friend? ? (@PaperboyPrince) March 7, 2023
and
Let me get this straight
1. She cheated on her husband with her boss
2. Broke her marriage
3. She got tired of banging her boss and wants to leave
4. Boss said leave me and leave my job
5. She stayed and grew in power
6. Now she claims to be a victimMen’s nightmare??
— MetaPhilosophy (@MetaPhilosophy9) March 7, 2023
and
She said … pic.twitter.com/SOO5m9hQCF
— Chaz Bailey ( Just Zo Productions ) (@my_man_Zo) March 7, 2023
and
She knew they were both married, and admits she was aware of the “potential pitfalls” beforehand. His actions were definitely sexual harassment, but she admittedly knew this could happen. So, I have very little sympathy for her in this case. He should have been fired, though.
— Maison Belle (@MaisonBelle19) March 7, 2023
and
Wait. So your “inappropriate romantic relationship” with your boss is about power dynamics? Its giving “slept ur way to the top”. ?
— IkieSpeaks (@AttyIkieSpeaks) March 7, 2023
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