Longtime DC Comics editor Eddie Berganza has been suspended by the Burbank, California-based publisher, after new details of multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him have become public.
DC’s statement, released to CBR, reads in full:
“DC Entertainment has immediately suspended Mr. Berganza and has removed him from performing his duties as Group Editor at DC Comics. There will be a prompt and yet careful review into next steps as it relates to the allegations against him, and the concerns our talent, employees and fans have shared. DC continues to be extremely committed to creating a safe and secure working environment for our employees and everyone involved in the creation of our comic books.”
RELATED: Details Surface of DC Editor’s Multiple Sexual Harassment Allegations
The suspension comes one day after the publication of a BuzzFeed article on Berganza and the years of sexual harassment and assault complaints against him, which included first-hand accounts from three women, two of which were former DC Comics employees.
Among the stories recounted in the BuzzFeed article include Liz Gehrlein Marsham’s account that, within weeks of being hired as an editor at DC Comics, Berganza forcibly kissed her and attempted to grope her at a bar near DC’s former New York City offices. When Berganza was promoted to Executive Editor — despite multiple complaints to DC’s human resources department, as the article relates, and Marsham expressing her discomfort to DC Comics Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras — she moved away from working in editorial completely, rather than working under Berganza.
In 2012, Berganza was demoted back to Group Editor, after an incident at a hotel bar near WonderCon 2012 in Anaheim became public. According to the BuzzFeed article, Berganza forcibly kissed a woman, who spoke to the outlet but remained anonymous. The woman was not a DC employee, but her boyfriend at the time was a DC Comics writer, who was unnamed in the article.
In April 2016, the sexual harassment allegations against Berganza became public following the departure from DC Comics of veteran Vertigo editor Shelly Bond; with observers wondering why Bond would see her position eliminated while Berganza remained employed at a high level within DC. In May of 2016, DC stated that the company was “reviewing our policies, expanding employee training on the topic and working with internal and external resources to ensure that these policies and procedures are respected and reinforced across the company.”
Berganza has been with DC Comics since 1992, and has edited many of the publisher’s highest-profile comics, including the current Dark Nights: Metal event. His photo was included on the cover of Saturday’s New York Daily News, alongside the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K., in an article on the recent wave of sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men in the entertainment industry, headlined “Perv Nation.”
Keep reading CBR for the latest on the situation.