"Everyone Knows Ed Henry is a Sex Addict"
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The woman who accused former Fox News Anchor Ed Henry of raping her in 2017 is doubling down on her claims that Fox News knew about his alleged misconduct against multiple women years before he was fired, and did nothing about it.
USA Today reports that Jennifer Eckhart, a former Fox Business producer who filed a civil suit in July naming Henry and Fox News, on Monday amended the lawsuit to push back against Fox News' denial of wrongdoing.
Fox News responded to the original lawsuit by denying that anyone had raised sexual harassment concerns about Henry prior to Eckhart in June 2020. “There were no sexual harassment claims against Ed Henry at Fox News prior to Jennifer Eckhart’s claim on June 25, 2020,” the network's statement to USA Today said in July.
In an email to FTVLive, Eckhart’s attorney said, “As alleged, Fox News was very much on notice of Mr. Henry’s inappropriate sexual misconduct as far back as 2016, when, according to reports, he was required to undergo a sexual addiction rehabilitation program in order to return to work following public disclosure of an extramarital affair. At the time, the Amended Complaint alleges, Fox Business anchor Liz Claman told Ms. Eckhart, “Everyone at Fox News knows that [Mr.] Henry is a sex addict. That’s no secret.””
Michael J. Willemin, Partner, Wigdor LLP and Renan F. Varghese, Counsel released this statement about the suit:
“The amended complaint lays out how Fox News attempted to bury its head in the sand and refused to take appropriate action to protect its female employees, including Ms. Eckhart, all in the name of its bottom line. The new allegations make clear that Fox News’ blanket denials are untruthful, and we look forward to taking discovery in this case to learn even more.”
Fox News sent this statement to FTVLive, “While we take even anonymous accounts of wrongdoing seriously as we learn of them, the fact remains that there were no sexual harassment claims against Ed Henry at FOX News prior to Jennifer Eckhart’s claim on June 25, 2020. Upon first learning of the allegations, we promptly commenced an independent investigation and took immediate action, firing Mr. Henry within six days of the notification on July 1, 2020. FOX News takes all claims of harassment, misconduct and retaliation extremely seriously and maintains a zero tolerance policy that is strictly enforced throughout the company which is why Mr. Henry was fired within days of Ms. Eckhart’s complaint.”
