Nev Schulman Was Expelled From College for Allegedly Punching a Woman During School Dance
Nev Schulman's alleged sexual misconduct may not be his only transgression, according to a newly-revisited 2014 Vulture report.
On Thursday (May 17), MTV announced that production for Catfish season seven would be suspended as they investigate the claims of misconduct facing the show's creator and executive producer. The show, a deviation of Schulman's own catfish documentary, has since received a cult-audience since its premiere broadcast in 2012.
“We take these allegations very seriously,” an MTV rep told the Daily Beast, who broke the story. “We’re working with Critical Content, our third-party production company, to conduct a thorough investigation.”
The 33-year-old rejected the accusations, telling the paper in a statement: "I have always been transparent about my life and would always take responsibility for my actions—but these claims are false."
In light of Schulman's alleged misbehavior, a Vulture story from September 2014 seems to refer the producer's past with conducting himself churlishly; one such incident actually caused the star to be expelled from his university.
In his memoir, In Real Life: Love, Lies & Identity in the Digital Age, the TV host detailed the instance he was "tossed out" of Sarah Lawrence College in 2006 for hitting a girl in the face after she tackled him for taking pictures at one of the school's dances.
In his book, Schulman explained how he was unaware of the fact that the person he punched was a female and was mistaken by her "short, stocky" frame and crew-cut hairstyle.
The woman in question, who remains anonymous by choice, as well as four others present during the incident, gave corroborating accounts to Vulture that suggests a similar chain of events transpired, but that the violence had been initiated by the showrunner.
Apparently, Schulman had been encroaching on a coming-out dance celebration for LGBTQ+ students by taking images of queer couples kissing without their consent. The woman said she did not tackle him but only asked that he stop snapping pictures. It was at this moment she said he turned on her.
"I tapped his shoulder and he turned and hit me out of nowhere, I went down and he held me in a head lock and repeatedly punched me while I tried to get free," the woman told the pub. "The impact broke my glasses and the rest of the night was a blur. I got off the floor, talked to police, then went home to sleep. When I woke up the next day, my face was bruised, I was hurt, and a friend urged me to go to the hospital, which I did."
In a statement via Gawker, Schulman maintained that he struck the woman in self-defense.
You can read the initial Vulture report and each statement in full here.