Strip club owner, women complainants offer testimony in Grossberg hearing
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Investigation into Louisville Rep. Daniel Grossberg
A Herald-Leader investigation into allegations of sexual harassment involving Rep. Daniel Grossberg, D-Louisville, revealed he intimidated and harassed multiple women in and around Kentucky politics. He also was allegedly aggressive and threatening toward dancers in a Louisville strip club.
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The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission called four witnesses Tuesday to testify during a preliminary hearing related to Rep. Daniel Grossberg’s alleged misconduct, which includes inappropriate behavior toward younger women.
The Frankfort hearing, which was closed to the public, stretched nearly six hours.
Grossberg was present with his attorneys, Anna Whites and Thomas Clay. All three sat in the room while four individuals were brought in separately to provide testimony and answer questions.
The setup functioned much like a courtroom, in layout and in practice. Grossberg and his legal counsel sat on one side of the room, legislative ethics commission investigators and staff sat in the middle, and witnesses were called to an ad hoc witness stand on the opposite side of the room.
Witnesses were questioned by legislative ethics staff and cross-examined by Grossberg and his attorneys.
Grossberg also testified before the commission.
The commission did not move forward with any action on the matter following the closed-door session.
Its next options — all of which require a vote — are to dismiss the complaints against Grossberg or find probable cause he violated state ethics code.
If probable cause is found, the commission could issue a confidential reprimand or move forward with an adjudicatory proceeding, Emily Dennis, the group’s executive director, told reporters after the meeting ended.
In an adjudicatory hearing, rules of evidence apply, just like in a legal proceeding.
The next commission meeting is July 8.
Clay declined to answer questions after the hearing ended, saying he was bound by the confidentiality of the investigative process.
Those who were brought in to speak included two women who said Grossberg sexually harassed them: Kentucky Young Democrats President Allison Wiseman and Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman Emma Curtis.
Both had been featured anonymously in a Herald-Leader story detailing the accounts of three women’s interactions with Grossberg. All three have since gone public.
A co-owner and former manager of Foxys Gentleman’s Club in Louisville also testified before the commission. Grossberg was banned for life from the club, the Herald-Leader reported last year, after attempting to touch a dancer’s genitals on stage and soliciting another for sex.
No person who testified during Tuesday’s hearing spoke to reporters.
Three former members of House Democratic leadership were present at Tuesday’s hearing but did not testify.
Former House Minority Leader Cherlynn Stevenson, former House Minority Whip Rachel Roberts and former House Democratic Caucus Leader Derrick Graham were the first to call for the ethics commission to investigate Grossberg’s alleged misconduct with women on the heels of a story published last summer by the Herald-Leader that detailed accounts from three women.
Grossberg ethics probe background
The ethics commission agreed to launch a formal investigation last fall, after the Herald-Leader reported an initial story 11 months ago detailing accounts from three women who shared “weird” and “creepy” text messages from Grossberg they said were unwanted.
Later, Grossberg was accused by three more women of sexual harassment and misconduct, the Herald-Leader reported. That included Curtis’ retelling of an instance of alleged harassment in Grossberg’s legislative office.
The Herald-Leader later reported that Grossberg had inappropriately touched a dancer at a Louisville strip club and offered to pay another for sex, earning him a lifetime ban from the business.
Earlier this month the commission presented Grossberg with a preliminary deal, though he refused to sign it, instead requesting a formal hearing, which took place Tuesday.
The agreed order he opted not to sign found “probable cause may exist to believe” he violated the state’s ethics code twice, including once when he invited Curtis, referred to in the complaint as a “volunteer issue advocate,” into his office, drank alcohol, offered her some, and asked personal, at times sexual, questions.
The order would have required him to receive a public reprimand, pay a $4,000 fine, enroll in mental health treatment and waive his right to bring civil action against the commission.
Grossberg on Friday filed a lawsuit against the commission, asking for a judge to intervene and dismiss the ethics case entirely, claiming it was rooted in retaliatory means to get him to resign. Judge Thomas Wingate on Monday denied his request, allowing the hearing to go on as planned Tuesday.
In the lawsuit, Grossberg said he was the victim of harassment and discrimination at the hands of former Democratic leadership and ethics commission members because he is Jewish and “neurodiverse.”
“The sad facts surrounding this entire investigation appear to be motivated by an antisemitic sentiment by a handful of powerful individuals,” the lawsuit said.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 5:29 PM.
