Charlie Walk skips ‘The Four’ finale after harassment claim

LOS ANGELES – Record executive Charlie Walk says he won’t appear on next week’s finale of the Fox competition show “The Four.”

Walk says in a statement released late Wednesday through his attorney that he does not want his “presence to be a distraction” at the live show.

Walk was placed on leave Wednesday by Republic Records after a former employee accused him of sexual harassment in an open letter posted on her website. Tristan Coopersmith says Walk regularly made lewd and inappropriate comments to her during the year they worked together more than a decade ago.

Walk denies misconduct and called the allegations “very upsetting.” He says in his statement that he supports the #MeToo movement but “there has been an extreme rush to judgment against me in this particular case.”