Mark Halperin out at NBC after five women accuse him of sexual harassment

A CNN report on Thursday revealed that five women have accused MSNBC and Bloomberg senior analyst, author, and frequent "Morning Joe" panelist Mark Halperin of sexually harassing them. As a result, NBC revealed that Halperin has left his role as a contributor on the network.

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• Halperin, author of the 2010 book "Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime," reportedly sexually harassed five women while at ABC News — where he was political director from 1997 to 2007.
• Halperin told CNN in a statement that he was "deeply sorry" and noted that he would be taking a "step back" to address the circumstance.
• Halperin said, "During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me. I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain."
• The allegations against Halperin include various types of unwanted advances, including kissing women without their consent, grinding his genitals up against women, propositioning women for sex, and grabbing a woman's breast.
• CNN's report added that none of the women reported the incidents to management at the time.
• "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski addressed the allegations on the show Thursday: "Now to a story that broke overnight involving someone you see around this table every day. CNN is reporting allegations regarding our friend Mark Halperin during his time at ABC News over a decade ago, unnamed sources detailing unwanted advances and inappropriate behavior. ... We are going to be following this story as it develops I’m sure we are going to be talking about it again when we know more about it."
• MSNBC in a statement revealed that they find the allegations "very troubling," and that Halperin is "leaving his role as a contributor until the questions around his past conduct are fully understood."
• ABC News in a statement told CNN, "Mark left ABC News over a decade ago, and no complaints were filed during his tenure."

This is a developing story and will be updated as events warrant.