In the complaint, filed Monday in New York federal court, former Fox News producer Jennifer Eckhart alleged that Henry—the long-time Fox reporter and host of America’s Newsroom who was fired earlier this month for what the network called “willful sexual misconduct”—raped and assaulted her and “preformed sadistic acts on her without her consent that left her injured, bruised and battered with bloody wrists.”…
According to the complaint, Eckhart alleged that Henry, who is married, “groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced” her into a sexual relationship in which he referred to her as his “sex slave.” Additionally, the lawsuit claimed, “when she would not comply voluntarily, [Henry] sexually assaulted her on office property, and raped her at a hotel where Fox News frequently lodged its visiting employees.”…
Meanwhile, journalist Cathy Areu, who had been a frequent on-air guest on Fox News programs—often labeled by Carlson as “The Liberal Sherpa” for her ability to explain obscure, often lazily stereotyped liberal views to his viewership—alleged in the lawsuit that in early 2020, Henry sent her “a slew of wildly inappropriate sexual images and messages—which are in her possession.”
According to the lawsuit, these messages included “a ‘closeup’ photograph of a woman’s vagina being ‘clamped’ closed by four clothespins; a photograph of an individual wearing a mask that has a large penis in lieu of a nose; a photograph of a vibrator faux smoking a cigarette; a photograph with a woman with her mouth open and tongue extended, with a man’s hands pulling her towards his midsection, captioned ‘In case you wondering … the male g-spot is located at the back of a woman’s throat;’ a photograph of a woman’s rear end and vagina modified to include the features of a bunny rabbit (this was sent for Easter); a woman wearing nothing but three masks, in which her entire body is exposed other than her breasts and vagina; [and] a photograph of a rubber glove where each finger appears to be a dildo and/or ribbed like a condom.”
Update: Fox has responded with this statement:
“Based on the findings of a comprehensive independent investigation conducted by an outside law firm, including interviews with numerous eyewitnesses, we have determined that all of Cathy Areu’s claims against FOX News, including its management as well as its hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity & Howard Kurtz and its contributor Gianno Caldwell, are false, patently frivolous and utterly devoid of any merit. We take all claims of harassment, misconduct and retaliation seriously, promptly investigating them and taking immediate action as needed — in this case, the appropriate action based on our investigation is to defend vigorously against these baseless allegations. 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.” – FOX News
