Fox News and some of its top on-camera stars face new accusations of misconduct in a lawsuit filed by Monday by two women. One woman accused Ed Henry, a host who was fired by Fox News earlier this month, of sexual assault as well as harassment — while a second woman who frequently appeared as an on-air contributor accused Henry, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Howard Kurtz of sexual harassment by dangling the prospect of a job in exchange for suggested sexual favors.
The suit — filed on behalf of Jennifer Eckhart and Cathy Areu in U.S. District Court — also said that Fox News executives were aware of sexual misconduct accusations against Ed Henry in 2017, three years before firing him, and that the network tried to “take credit” for doing the right thing with its July 1 announcement of his termination.
“In reality, Fox News knew that Mr. Henry had engaged in sexual misconduct as far back as early 2017. At that time, when Fox News was conducting a company-wide investigation into issues of sexual harassment, multiple women came forward to complain that Mr. Henry had engaged in sexually inappropriate conduct towards them. Upon information and belief, this was known to Fox News’ Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Kevin Lord (“Mr. Lord”), as well as Fox News President and Executive Editor, Jay Wallace (“Mr. Wallace”), and Fox Business Network President, Lauren Petterson (“Ms. Petterson”),” the suit says.
In a statement, Fox News responded, “Ms. Areu and Jennifer Eckhart can pursue their claims against Ed Henry directly with him, as FOX News already took swift action as soon as it learned of Ms. Eckhart’s claims on June 25 and Mr. Henry is no longer employed by the network.” Henry’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.
According to the suit, Eckhart was a 24-year-old production assistant at the network in 2014 when Henry reached out her via Twitter and began flirtatious interactions. After agreeing to meet him for a drink at the New York Marriott Marquis, she said that Henry “out of nowhere, began forcefully kissing Ms. Eckhart and ripped off her clothes. Ultimately, Ms. Eckhart, fearing that her career would be over if she refused Mr. Henry, relented and had sexual intercourse with him.”
In November 2015, Eckhart said that Henry sexually assaulted again her inside the Guest Office of Fox News’ Manhattan headquarters building. Finally, the suit says that Henry again raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2017 after restraining her with handcuffs behind her back and taking naked photos of her without her consent.
Throughout this time, Eckhart said that she feared career retaliation from Henry, whom she said sent her threatening emails and text messages, including, ‘F— you and your safe word. You will know when I am done” and “#obey or #discipline.”
According to the suit, Fox News fired Henry on July 1 less than a week after learning of Eckhart and Areu’s accusations and realizing “that it was on the precipice of a public relations nightmare.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Wrap