Gabrielle Union taking Simon Cowell to court for 'racist actions' at 'America's Got Talent'

Gabrielle Union has filed a lawsuit against America's Got Talent production company Fremantle,  NBC Universal, as well as Simon Cowell’s production company Syco. for their racist behaviour on the show. 

As reported, Union will also be filing a legal complaint againt Cowell separately. 

On Thursday, reporter Yashar Ali shared a statement from Union’s attorney Bryan Freedman on Twitter, revealing how she endured racial discrimination from the show's producers.

“When Gabrielle Union informed NBC of racially offensive conduct during the taping of America’s Got Talent, NBC did not ‘stand’ with her in ‘outrage at acts of racism,’” the statement began. “Instead, NBC did not care enough to either promptly investigate Ms. Union’s complaints or even ask HR to get involved. Rather, NBC stood against her and directed its ‘outrage’ at Ms. Union for whistleblowing about the racially offensive conduct she experiences while working for NBC on America’s Got Talent.”

The statement went on to add that NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy threatened Union “in an attempt to silence her from telling the truth about racist actions that took place on the show.”

Earlier while talking about her encounter with racism, Union told Variety, "You cannot edit out what we just experienced. There is not an edit button in my brain or in my soul. To experience this kind of racism at my job and there be nothing done about it, no discipline, no companywide email, no reminder of what is appropriate in the workplace?”

Union, along with fellow judge Julianne Hough, was reportedly given “excessive notes” regarding her appearance on the show. She was also reportedly told, repeatedly, that her hairstyles were “too black.”

She was then fired from the show for documenting her concerns about the workplace culture reportedly.