Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon named in grooming, sexual assault lawsuit against former SNL cast member

The lawsuit was filed in the New York County Supreme Court in Manhattan, and requests a trial by jury, since it seeks a sum above the limits of a sum which would be awarded by a lower court.

According to Vanity Fair, NBC Universal and SNL Studios are also named as defendants, for their role in having allowed the harassment and abuse to go on unchecked. The complaint even specifically names Sanz's then colleague, Jimmy Fallon, saying that the plaintiff was "consuming alcohol and sharing calamari with then cast member Jimmy Fallon, while allegedly discussing her upcoming SAT and future college plans."

Sanz, according to the legal complaint, "began his process of grooming [the] plaintiff" in Jan. 2000, when he got in touch with her via email, and in Oct. 2000, the two met in person for the first time after a taping of the SNL show.

The pair continued to be in touch, and the complaint goes on to allege further "conversations to discuss sex, sexual experiences, sexual activities, sexual fantasies, (and) masturbation" on the then-popular AOL online platform.

Sanz allegedly "continued to solicit inappropriate photographs" of the plaintiff.

The abuse culminated, according to the complaint, in May 2002, where Sanz is accused of "kissing her, groping her breasts, groping her buttocks, and digitally penetrating her genitals forcibly and without Plaintiff's consent," on more than one occasion during and shortly after SNL-related events.

Sanz through his attorney, claims his innocence and says that the accusations against him are "categorically false."

The SNL show itself recently made the media again for offering cast members a "safe space" if guest host Elon Musk triggered them.