Tavis Smiley, the former PBS host who was fired less than one month ago amid sexual harassment allegations, is planning to launch a new weekly online series.
In a Facebook video posted Monday to his more than 215,000 followers, Smiley said that the series, “The Upside With Tavis Smiley,” will “celebrate the spirit of resilience, the power to overcome that resides in each of us.”
The Word Network, which was founded in 2000 and calls itself the “largest African-American religious network in the world" will stream the program.
“We are thrilled to have Tavis share his insightful programming with our vast audience,” said network CEO Kevin Adell in a statement.
Variety reported in December that the law firm MSK was hired by PBS and "took reports from 10 witnesses, a mix of men and women of different races and employment levels in Smiley’s organization, most of them former staffers" who claim he fostered a hostile work climate while verbally abusing his employees.
He has vehemently denied the allegations against him, telling Fox News's Tucker Carlson last month that he only found out about the investigation through former colleagues.
"It's mind-boggling to me that they kind of play this game of pick and choose... who they want to talk to," he said.
"They've just bungled this," he added. "Something needs to be done to fix this."
Smiley on Monday also announced plans for a five-city tour called “The Conversation: Women, Men and the Workplace."
Smiley says he intends to discuss “how to create safe and healthy work environments” in a town hall setting.
“The polling is all over the place regarding what women and men think about where the lines are, and what constitutes acceptable office protocol,” Smiley noted.
"We need to have a national dialogue about these issues so women and men know how to engage each other in the workplace.”
Smiley had hosted his PBS program since 2004 and served as its producer.