ABC Pulls ‘The Proposal’ Episode Following Sexual-Assault Allegation

By Daniel Holloway

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – ABC has pulled the second episode of new reality series “The Proposal” after a sexual-assault allegation involving one of the show’s contestants surfaced.

“An allegation has been made against a contestant on next week’s episode of ‘,’” ABC and producer Warner Horizon. “While the accusation was not related to the contestant’s appearance on the program, we take it very seriously. ABC and the producers of ‘The Proposal’ are pulling the episode while this matter is under review.”

A Wisconsin woman named Erica Denae Meshke wrote in a Facebook post Thursday that a contestant on the show facilitated at least one other man in raping her. Meshke initially did not identify the contestant, but later posted a photo of Michael J. Friday.

The allegation was not related to production of the series.

Meshke claimed that Friday arranged to meet her in the “lobby/entertainment room” of an apartment complex. “When I arrived, it was just him and two other 50ish year-old men whom he referred to as his ‘friends’,” Meshke wrote. “They poured me a drink, and then I was left alone with the two older men. The original guy never came back, despite me calling and texting. I was told by his friends that he would be back soon. So while I waited, I accepted another drink, which I know now was spiked. I was taken to an apartment upstairs by one of the older men, and the things I endured for the next 5 hours were unspeakable.”

Meshke has not commented publicly on the accusation.”The Proposal,” a dating reality program from Warner Horizon, premiered Monday on ABC.