Ed Henry, a former anchor for America’s Newsroom who was fired from Fox News last year after the network received a sexual misconduct complaint, sued Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott on Wednesday for allegedly defaming him as a “sex criminal.”
The lawsuit, which listed Fox News Network LLC as a defendant and was filed in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey, accuses Scott of using Henry as a “scapegoat to divert attention away from her own sordid history at Fox News.” Fox News responded by calling the allegations “baseless.”
Henry, 49, was fired from his role as co-anchor a year ago after an investigation by an independent law firm in response to a complaint filed by a “former employee’s attorney involving willful sexual misconduct in the workplace years ago,” according to a memo signed by Scott and Fox News President Jay Wallace.
It later emerged that Jennifer Eckhart, a former associate producer on Fox Business, accused Henry of sexual assault, including rape. Henry declined these accusations.
“Based on investigative findings, Ed has been terminated,” Scott and Wallace said in their July 1, 2020, memo.
Henry’s legal team now insists the termination came despite “overwhelming evidence” that would have cleared him of wrongdoing.
“Scott made the allegations despite overwhelming evidence — already in her possession — that the accusations against Ed were false,” said Ty Clevenger, Henry’s attorney, in a statement. “We believe she preemptively offered up Mr. Henry as a scapegoat.”
FOX NEWS FIRES ED HENRY FOLLOWING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT
Clevenger also claimed Scott “threw Ed under the bus to burnish her image as the tough female executive who cleaned up Fox News.” He further alleged she covered up an “extramarital affair” between Wallace and one of his subordinates while ignoring “texts, emails, and photographs” provided by Henry that would have exonerated him.
Eckhart filed a lawsuit in July 2020. Cathy Areu, who claimed other Fox News personalities sexually harassed her, also Henry raped her multiple times since 2014, including an instance in 2015 in which he allegedly forced her to give him oral sex in a guest office. Henry’s attorney at the time, Catherine Foti, disputed the claims and said the pair’s relationship was consensual.
“The evidence, in this case, will demonstrate that Ms. Eckhart initiated and completely encouraged a consensual relationship,” Foti said last year. “Ed Henry looks forward to presenting actual facts and evidence, which will contradict the fictional accounts contained in the complaint. That evidence includes graphic photos and other aggressively suggestive communications that Ms. Eckhart sent to Mr. Henry.”
In the suit filed on Wednesday, Clevenger accused Scott of altering coverage regarding the National Football League anthem protests in 2020 to secure a deal with the NFL for Fox Sports.
“The lawsuit alleges that Scott instructed producers at the network to curtail coverage of the national anthem controversy that Mr. Trump had pushed about NFL players kneeling during the anthem,” he said. “The lawsuit further alleges that Scott suppressed the story because Fox Sports was trying to secure a multibillion-dollar contract with the NFL.”
Henry seeks a permanent withdrawal of the statement accusing him of sexual misconduct that was distributed to Fox employees, punitive damages, and monetary relief.
“Ms. Eckhart stands by the allegations in her complaint against Ed Henry,” Michael Willemin, a lawyer for Eckhart, told the Washington Examiner.
Fox News issued multiple statements in response to Henry’s lawsuit.
“As we stated one year ago, FOX News Media conducted a thorough independent investigation into Ed Henry immediately after we were made aware of a serious misconduct claim against him by a former employee,” a Fox News Media spokesperson said. “Based on the results of those findings, we promptly terminated Mr. Henry’s employment for willful sexual misconduct and stand by the decision entirely. We are fully prepared to vigorously defend against these baseless allegations as Mr. Henry further embarrasses himself in a lawsuit rife with inaccuracies after driving his personal life into the ground with countless extramarital affairs in a desperate attempt for relevance and redemption.”
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“Under the leadership of CEO Suzanne Scott, FOX News Media has worked tirelessly to transform the company culture, implementing annual, mandatory in-person harassment prevention training, creating an entirely new reporting structure, more than tripling the size of our HR footprint, conducting quarterly company meetings and mentoring events, as well as executing a zero tolerance policy regarding workplace misconduct for which we engage outside independent firms to handle investigations,” the representative added in a second statement focused on Scott. “No other company has enacted such a comprehensive and continuous overhaul, which notably, earned FOX News Media recognition as a “Great Place to Work” for the first time in its existence, a testament to the many cultural changes that Ms. Scott has instituted during her incredibly successful tenure as CEO.”
“FOX conducted a full and independent investigation of the claims against Jay Wallace — he was cleared of any wrongdoing and the allegations are false,” the spokesperson concluded in a third statement.
