Former Fox reporter and associate producer Jennifer Eckhart has filed a lawsuit against Fox News with "brutal" sexual assault allegations against former Fox host Ed Henry, who was fired earlier this month by the network for "willful sexual misconduct." She alleges that Henry "raped and assaulted" her and “performed sadistic acts on her without her consent that left her injured, bruised and battered with bloody wrists.” Her attorney claims that while Roger Ailes may be gone, "Fox News’ institutional apathy towards sexual misconduct has not” changed. Her lawsuit claims that Henry “groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced” her into a sexual relationship in which he referred to her as his “sex slave.” She said that Henry repeatedly sent her graphic sexual images, and her attorneys released a series of text messages between Henry and Eckhart in which he said “When u r owned, you don’t get a ‘choice. “You don’t own me,” Eckhart replied. “Good long session last time,” he wrote just after 10 a.m. in another series of texts. “Left you bruised, batter, dazed, sated begging for more.” And so on. The lawsuit also alleges that the executives at Fox knew about Henry's behavior and did nothing. Henry's lawyer said that the relationship was consensual and they will prove it in court.
Meanwhile, another frequent female guest on Tucker Carlson's show and other Fox programs, journalist Cathy Areu, alleges in the same lawsuit that Henry sent her "a slew of wildly inappropriate sexual images and messages—which are in her possession." The article includes detailed descriptions of the many graphic images Henry texted to her. The lawsuit also claims that Areu was “also subjected to inappropriate sexual harassment and retaliation” by on-air Fox News personalities Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Howard Kurtz. During a December 2018 appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show, the host demanded that Areu stay on the set after her segment and then, according to the lawsuit, “hardly making any effort to hide his intentions, began telling Ms. Areu that he would be alone in New York City that night, and specifically said that he would be staying alone in his hotel room without any wife or kids.” The complaint continued: “Without question, Mr. Carlson was probing to see whether Ms. Areu was interested in a sexual relationship. Ms. Areu awkwardly sidestepped Mr. Carlson’s advances and declined to spend the night at his hotel. Mr. Carlson promptly retaliated against Ms. Areu, who was featured on his show only three times in 2019 and has not appeared once in 2020.” In response, Fox claimed that they had hired an "outside" investigator to check her allegations and found that all of her allegations "are false, patently frivolous and utterly devoid of any merit." Areu and Eckhart's attorneys, however, say that the outside investigator was a "management-side employment lawyer" who was paid by Fox to defend the company, and that they failed to talk to Eckhart or Areu, in spite of their willingness to speak with the investigator.
There's much more in the article. Yes, it's The Blaze, but most of the information comes directly from the complaint filed in NY state court. It's certainly eye-opening reading on the "culture" at Fox for women.
Link:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-fox-news-star-ed-henry-accused-of-rape-in-brutal-new-lawsuit?ref=home