Former Fox News Host Ed Henry Faces Allegations Of Rape And Sexual Harassment

Former Fox Business Network Producer, Jennifer Eckhart, and journalist, Cathy Areu, who used to frequently appear on Fox News have filed a lawsuit in federal court against Fox News hosts, alleging that they are guilty of sexual harassment.

Of the accused, one is former Fox News correspondent, Ed Henry, whom Eckhart has blamed for raping her and claimed that he "performed sadistic acts on her without her consent.”

In the lawsuit. Echart has stated that since she joined Fox in 2014, Henry had pursued her even when she had made it clear she was "not romantically interested" and in the end, she agreed to have drinks with him. After the drinks, Eckhart accepted Henry’s invitation to his room, following which he "ripped off her clothes" and forced her into sexual intercourse as she was afraid “her career would be over if she refused."

The lawsuit described how this wasn’t a lone incident and over the years, Henry continued to make sexual advances towards Eckhart, forced her to perform oral sex on him in a guest office at Fox News' New York City headquarters in September 2015, and raped her again in 2017, after forcibly taking naked photographs of her even though Eckhart "pleaded for him to stop" and delete the photos.

"While raping Ms. Eckhart, Mr. Henry performed sadistic acts on Ms. Eckhart, which included, among many other things, violently hitting her in the face multiple times,” the lawsuit said.

As he refused to cease his harassment, Eckhart notified Fox News human relations and her supervisor on February 10, 2020, but instead, she was slapped with the notice that her “employment would be terminated" in June.

The lawsuit also detailed that Henry sent Areu "a slew of widely inappropriate sexual images and messages" in 2020 and made explicit gestures that made it obvious that he wanted her to have sexual terms with him to further her career. Areu was sexually harassed by three other Fox News hosts- Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Howard Kurtz. And when she refused their advances, her appearances on their shows were reduced.

Recently, Ed Henry was suddenly fired by Fox News on July 1 just after the network claims it received a complaint of sexual harassment, which took place years ago, against him. As for the allegations against him, his attorney, Catherine Foti, has stressed that what he had with Eckhart was a consensual relationship, which can be proved with “actual facts and evidence, which will contradict the fictional accounts contained in the complaint.”