WOMEN ACCUSING FIRED ANCHOR SAY NETWORK STILL PROTECTS PREDATORS
place from the FOX News that was run by former disgraced chairman and CEO Roger
Ailes. Unfortunately, it is actually worse,” claimed the 39-page lawsuit, which was filed July 20 in Manhattan. “FOX News continues to protect and reward perpetrators of sexual harassment and refuses to take accountability for putting such persons in positions of power,” the document charged.
The complaint alleged Henry “preyed upon, manipulated and groomed” Jennifer,
30, and claimed he also handcuffed her as part of “violent, painful rape” in a Manhattan hotel room in 2017.
Jennifer charged after the alleged attack, Henry peppered her with disturbing text messages, including: “Gonna make you my little whore again!”
Henry’s lawyer, Catherine Foti, called the allegations “fictional” and added: “The evidence in this case will demonstrate that Ms. Eckhart initiated and completely encouraged a consensual relationship.”
However, the embattled journalist, 49, was still fired as co-anchor of “America’s Newsroom” on July 1, after the network conducted an internal investigation.
In 2016, the married anchor took a four-month leave of absence as White House correspondent after news broke of his ten-month affair with Las Vegas stripper Natalia Lima.
Following his return, Henry was eventually promoted to co-anchor on “Fox & Friends Weekend” and later moved to “America’s Newsroom.”
A FOX insider told The ENQUIRER “nothing changed” after the initial scandal erupted.
The lawsuit also sensationally accused Henry of bombarding Cathy, 49, with “inappropriate sexual images and messages” via text throughout the first half of this year. “Like Ms. Eckhart, I too was fearful to come forward. However, I simply could not stay silent given the tremendous harm that Mr. Henry and others at FOX News have caused for women affiliated with the company,” Cathy said in a statement.
FOX News fought back against the allegation, insisting a prompt and thorough internal investigation conducted by an outside law firm had determined all of Cathy’s claims were “false, patently frivolous and utterly devoid of any merit.”
In a statement, FOX News said: “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 claim on June 25, and Mr. Henry is no longer employed by the network.” A spokesperson also noted there were no sexual harassment claims against Henry at FOX News prior to Jennifer’s recent allegations. The FOX rep added the network never received any other complaints of sexual harassment or bad behavior by Henry while the investigation was being conducted.
Despite Henry’s swift departure, TV insiders believe this latest blow to the reputation of FOX News will be long-lasting.
“They just climbed out of the black hole of scandal, and now they’ve been set back again,” said a source.