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Dan Harmon Explains Exactly How He Harassed a Female 'Community' Writer

His accuser Megan Ganz called the confession a "master class in how to apologize."
Drew Schwartz
Brooklyn, US

Last week, former Community writer Megan Ganz accused showrunner Dan Harmon of mistreating her during her time working on the show, leading to a cryptic, public exchange on Twitter in which Harmon admitted to treating her "like garbage." On Wednesday, the Rick and Morty creator offered a clearer picture of what happened on his podcast Harmontown.

"The most clinical way I can put it in fessing up to my crimes is that I was attracted to a writer I had power over because I was a show runner," Harmon began at around the 20-minute mark. "And I knew enough to know that these feelings were bad news."

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Though he didn't mention Ganz by name, Harmon admitted pursuing a female employee while showrunner at Community, being "flirty" and "creepy" toward her at a time when he was living with his girlfriend. After the two broke up, he revealed his feelings to the writer, only to be turned down. That's when, Harmon said, he "treated her cruelly."

"I'm going to assume when she tweets about it and refers to 'trauma' that’s probably it," he said. "I crushed on her and resented her for not reciprocating it, and the entire time I was the one writing her paychecks and in control of whether she stayed or went and whether she felt good about herself or not, and said horrible things… things I never, ever would have done if she had been male and if I had never had those feelings for her."

Ultimately, Ganz left Community, and Harmon was fired as its showrunner. She went on to write for Modern Family and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia; he went on to create Rick and Morty. On Thursday, she posted a link to the latest episode of Harmontown on Twitter, asking people to tune in.

"What I didn't expect was the relief I'd feel just hearing him say these things actually happened," Ganz wrote. "I didn’t dream it. I’m not crazy. Ironic that the only person who could give me that comfort is the one person I’d never ask."

During their back-and-forth on Twitter last week, Ganz told Harmon she wasn't ready to forgive him. Listening to his apology, she said, she had a change of heart.

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