A man accused of stalking radio/TV personality Ryan Seacrest has pleaded not guilty to harassing the American Idol host.

On Tuesday, Chidi Benjamin Uzomah Jr. entered a not guilty plea to one count of felony stalking and two misdemeanour counts of violating a court order to stay away from Seacrest, E! News said this week.

According to a restraining order petition filed by Ryan’s attorneys, last September, Uzomah, 25, an Army reservist, pleaded guilty to assault, battery and carrying a switchblade in Orange County after he tried to meet Seacrest after an event. In November, Uzomah allegedly showed up at Seacrest’s E! studio wielding a knife. He ended up attacking one of Seacrest’s bodyguards.

A pretrail hearing is set for March 9.