Fox News has been hit with a kitchen sink suit, replete with trigger warning, as a complaint was filed on Monday in New York federal court alleging sexual misconduct by some of its top hosts including Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
Jennifer Eckhart, a former associate producer on Fox Business Network, is a co-plaintiff in the suit. The most serious claim pertains to Eckhart's allegation that she was raped by former White House chief correspondent Ed Henry, who earlier this month was fired by Fox News as a result of the charge.
"On July 1, 2020, Fox News disclosed to the public that it had terminated Mr. Henry based on the findings of an internal investigation, and purported to take credit for acting appropriately," states the complaint. "However, nothing could be further from the truth. 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."
Fox News now faces a sex trafficking claim as a result of Eckhart's allegation. The rape allegedly happened in 2017 in a hotel room after the two had met for drinks. Two years earlier, according to the complaint, Henry had romantically pursued her, forced a kiss on her, convince her to have sex by holding her career over her head, and months later assaulted her in Fox News' New York offices.
Catherine Foti, Henry's lawyer, responds by saying, "The evidence in this case will demonstrate that Ms. Eckhart initiated and completely encouraged a consensual relationship."
Cathy Areu is the other co-plaintiff in this case, which also asserts Fox News subjected women to a hostile workplace.
Once an on-air regular on Fox News, Areu says she was victimized by Henry through a "slew of wildly inappropriate sexual images and messages." The complaint details the contents of these messages.
Additionally, Areu targets several of Fox News' other stars. She alleges that Hannity once threw $100 on the desk of his set and called for the men around to take her on a date for drinks. She says that Carlson once probed to see whether she'd be interested in a sexual relationship. She accuses Howard Kurtz of inviting her to a hotel room. After allegedly spurning advances or enduring comments, Areu says she stopped being invited to appear on each of their respective programs. The three Fox News hosts are co-defendants in the suit and face claims of retaliation.
Here's the full complaint.
It's utterly brutal, inexcusable, inhumane stuff.
Of course, FOX News is full of brutal, inexcusable, and inhumane bastards like Henry, Hannity, and Carlson.
I frankly hope this costs the three of them their careers and a healthy stint in prison, but we all know that won't happen. Carlson will come back from his "vacation" just like Hannity has, and the two of them will continue to be hosts of America's most-watched cable TV news shows. Carlson's White Power Hour is the most-watched cable TV show in American history right now, averaging almost 4.5 million viewers a night, and Hannity is right behind him.
Henry may have been fired, but Hannity and Carlson have so far been untouchable.
I expect a quick settlement, and soon. FOX News has too many resources and too much invested in these two in order to give them up.
I don't think #MeToo can bring them down. They are too powerful.
But we'll see if that's the case.
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