Maury Povich’s dirty laundry won’t be aired in open court.
A Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled this week that a television producer’s $100 million sexual harassment lawsuit against the talk show host can proceed – but only behind closed doors.
Justice Bernard Fried shot down producer Bianca Nardi’s bid to have her day in court, ruling that the case will proceed in private arbitration.
“We are confident that an arbitrator will find her claims to be without merit,” said a spokesman for NBC Universal, the parent company of “The Maury Povich Show.”
In the lawsuit, Nardi accused Povich – who is married to newswoman Connie Chung – of carrying on a long affair with one of the show’s producers. Nardi also said the show’s set was rife with booze and pornography.
Attorneys for Povich had argued that a clause in Nardi’s contract required that she take her case to arbitration.
The lurid accusations against Povich and other staffers were made public when she filed the lawsuit last April.
Nardi, a blond Syracuse University graduate, claimed she was ordered to watch porn and to wear revealing outfits and cleavage-baring blouses.
Povich and Chung have refused to discuss the infidelity allegations leveled against him.
But the husband of Povich’s alleged lover, Donna Inbger, a TV producer, has dismissed Nardi’s charges as “absurd” and has praised Povich for always being a “gentleman.”
