Former BET CEO Debra Lee alleges affair with founder Bob Johnson, 'harassment'

Former BET CEO Debra Lee is speaking out about workplace harassment throughout her career.

In an interview with "Good Morning America" Tuesday, Lee discussed the alleged affair and subsequent retaliation she faced by former BET founder Bob Johnson and why she chose to disclose it in her new memoir "I Am Debra Lee."

"I wanted to tell that story because power dynamics are so important in a relationship, especially if you’re having a relationship with someone you work for. We all know the potential pitfalls," she said. "I worked for Bob Johnson for 10 years before we had a personal, romantic relationship. He was a mentor and he pushed me and he was responsible for a lot of my success."

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Lee alleged the affair started when they were both married and continued after they divorced. At that point, "people knew about the relationship. The company knew. We started going places together."

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When the former CEO wanted to break up with Johnson, she claimed her "job and my career were held over my head."

"It was like, 'Well, if you want to break up with me, then you can leave tomorrow.' And that was 20 years into my career at BET so I would have lost everything," Lee said, adding that it would be hard for her to get a new job without Johnson's recommendation. 

USA TODAY has reached out to reps for Johnson.

Lee said she was "embarrassed to talk to my family about it, so it was a dark time," but she eventually sought therapy.

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“Bob left the company and I became CEO, and I was CEO for 13 years without him being there and (able) to live my dream without any form of harassment," she added.

With the rise of #MeToo in 2017 and the Time's Up movement, Lee said she reexamined the relationship to determine if it was fully consensual if retaliation was a factor. "There's other kind of harassment. It's not all a man coming to the door in a robe," she said.

"At times it felt consensual, because we were out in public, but after #MeToo and Time's Up, I sort of reevaluated the whole thing and said, 'Was this really my choice?'" Lee questioned.

Lee discusses more on the alleged affair and her journey through therapy in "I Am Debra Lee" (available now).

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If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE and online.rainn.org).