*Lookaheah, lookaheah! Debra Lee, the woman who used to run BET has written a new memoir called “I Am Debra Lee” that not only reflects on her life, but she’s naming names, too!
Specifically, in “I Am Debra Lee,” which releases today (03-07-23), the former CEO of BET included a new revelation that she was in a relationship with the network’s founder, Bob Johnson, while they were both married to other people
During her interview with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, Lee gave some insight into their relationship as well as what happened when Lee tried to end things.
Lee explained in an interview with The Washington Post that it took the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements for her to realize that Johnson used their workplace relationship to “control and manipulate [her] in the office and at home.” The bottom line is that her career hung in the balance as she tried to end the affair.
“Oh yeah, I was told that many times,” she explains. “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 for 20 years won’t give me a recommendation and fired me because we were in a relationship and now it’s over.’”
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Former BET CEO Debra Lee talks about the affair she and BET founder Bob Johnson had when they were both married pic.twitter.com/FoswAC3eYI
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 7, 2023
Bob Johnson (76) would leave BET for good in 2005, and Lee (68) would become Chairman and CEO of the network. She served in the position until 2018.
And if you’re wondering WHY Lee is revealing this personal info in her new book, here’s what she told the Post:
“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. 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.”
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