Joe Gatto in 2024. Photo:
Arturo Holmes/Getty
Just days after a woman accused Joe Gatto of sexual assault, a former employee has come forward about her negative experiences with the comedian.
On March 20, a TikTok user, who goes by joozyb, accused the Impractical Jokers star, 48, of sexually assaulting her when she was 19 in a series of now-deleted videos, allegations which Gatto has denied. Now, a second woman — a source who previously worked for Gatto during his time on Impractical Jokers — claims that the comedian exhibited unwanted behaviors that she described as sexual harassment.
When reached on Sunday, March 23, a rep for Gatto referred PEOPLE to the comedian’s previous statement to Page Six in response to joozyb’s allegations. The March 22 statement said: “I have used poor judgment and as a result have violated the trust of the people I love most. But anyone who knows me at all knows full well that I wouldn’t assault anyone.” (The second complainant did not allege that she was assaulted.)
“Working on myself is an ongoing process,” the statement continued, “and I am now going to take some time away from the public eye to focus my energies where I need to.”
The second woman tells PEOPLE that she first met Gatto at one of his live shows when she was 15, and claims that as soon as she turned 18, his behavior shifted, becoming very flirtatious. (She was employed by the comedian prior to his departure from Impractical Jokers, which he announced in late 2021.)
Before she started the job, just after graduating from college, one of the comedian’s previous employees allegedly warned her that she perceived him to sometimes be flirty and handsy. The employee also told her that Gatto often tells inappropriate jokes, and advised her to shut it down immediately if he did anything creepy, the source claims.
And she says she quickly learned why the warning was issued. During her time working for the Impractical Jokers star, the source alleges, he occasionally inappropriately grabbed her and asked for back massages. She also claims Gatto once invited her to his room, and asked her to cuddle. Gatto also made frequent inquiries into her sex life, she alleges.
Joe Gatto. Johnny Louis/Getty
The source also says Gatto would brag often about being in an open relationship with his wife, Bessy — a claim she now suspects was false. (The couple, who share two kids, split in 2021 after eight years of marriage, and later got back together.)
Gatto privately responded to her posts on social media to tell her she’s “hot,” and acted possessive, getting jealous when she would post photos of her actual boyfriend, she claims.
When she rejected his advances or refused to flirt back, Gatto would be rude to her the following day at work, the source claims, noting that she felt as though she always had to work to keep him at ease, fearing she could lose her job.
This was part of a larger pattern of alleged emotional manipulation, according to the source, which continued until she left his employment after two years.
The source also claims that the comedian once grabbed her upper thigh while the two were in a hotel elevator during a work trip. In response, she moved across the elevator, while Gatto allegedly told her he “knew” that he would make her uncomfortable during the trip.
During another work trip, the source alleges, Gatto insisted his employees come back to his room to drink, despite publicly claiming to be sober in interviews (and frequently boasting that he’s never had a sip of alcohol before, per the source). Though Gatto himself was not drinking on that occasion, the source claims, he encouraged others to drink around him.
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Joe Gatto in 2024. David Becker/Getty
And in the office, which was actually a two-bedroom apartment, Gatto frequently joked about bringing girls up the freight elevator so they would not have to go through the building’s lobby — something the source says reminded her of joozyb’s TikTok testimony.
In since-deleted TikToks, joozyb alleged that she was “sexually assaulted” by Gatto while he was in Milwaukee for a show in September 2023. She claimed that Gatto sent her instructions on how to get to his hotel room, and “somebody led me to the elevator” before the alleged assault occurred at the hotel, leading to bruising on one of her buttocks.
While she did not go into detail about what allegedly occurred next between her and Gatto, joozyb claimed that “some stuff happened.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
