Was Geraldo campus really a predator? Is there any proof?
Executive summary
Bette Midler has publicly alleged that Geraldo Rivera drugged and groped her during an interview in the 1970s, a claim she first described on camera in 1991 and renewed in 2017 when the clip resurfaced [1] [2]. News reporting and Rivera’s own statements show a contested account—Midler’s allegation and Rivera’s public comments exist in the record, but the sources provided do not document criminal charges, a civil judgment, or contemporaneous corroboration that would legally prove predation [2] [3].
1. The allegation on record: Midler’s 1991 account resurfaced
Bette Midler told Barbara Walters in a 1991 interview that Rivera and a producer “broke two poppers and pushed them under my nose and proceeded to grope me,” and she reiterated that account in 2017 by posting the clip to Twitter and asking Rivera to apologize [1] [2] [4]. Multiple outlets reported Midler’s renewal of the allegation and public calls for an apology after Rivera made comments in 2017 downplaying sexual-misconduct allegations in the media [1] [5].
2. Rivera’s public reactions: denial, defense of others, and apologies
Rivera publicly defended Matt Lauer in late 2017, tweeting that the wave of allegations risked “criminalizing courtship,” which prompted backlash and led Rivera to issue an apology for his remarks; in the same controversy he later apologized to Midler, saying he regretted public embarrassment caused years earlier while also elsewhere characterizing the circumstances differently, at times calling earlier descriptions “preposterous” and asserting consensual contact [6] [7] [2]. Fox News formally distanced itself from Rivera’s initial tweets and said it was “troubled” by his comments, according to reporting [8].
3. What the public record shows — and what it does not
The reporting collected here documents Midler’s allegation, the 1991 interview clip, Rivera’s tweets defending a colleague in 2017, public apologies, and discussion of Rivera’s memoir in which he recounts sexual encounters he later called “embarrassing” [1] [2] [7] [3]. However, these pieces do not include evidence of criminal charges brought against Rivera, police reports, court filings finding liability, or contemporaneous third‑party corroboration cited by news organizations in the material provided, and scholars of reporting caution that such corroboration is often central to proving predatory criminal conduct [2] [3].
4. Patterns, context, and competing narratives in the coverage
Coverage portrays Rivera as a figure who has both been accused and who has, at times, downplayed sexual-misconduct claims in public commentary; Media Matters and others have compiled instances where Rivera minimized allegations against others or made provocative public statements that fueled skepticism about his stance on harassment [9]. Some outlets emphasize Midler’s account and the resurfacing of the Walters clip, while Rivera and his defenders have framed earlier encounters as consensual or misremembered; the record presented contains clear claims on both sides without legal adjudication in the cited sources [1] [6].
5. Conclusion — the question of proof
The assembled reporting establishes that a credible, on‑camera allegation by Bette Midler exists and that Rivera responded publicly with statements that ranged from denial to apology [1] [2]. The materials provided do not supply independent, contemporaneous evidence, criminal charges, or civil rulings that would constitute incontrovertible proof of predation under legal standards; therefore, while the allegation is part of the historical record and Rivera’s public behavior and comments are documented, definitive legal proof is not present in these sources [2] [3]. Further investigation would require court records, police reports, contemporaneous witness testimony, or other corroboration not included in the provided reporting.