Accusers Claim Ed Henry’s Behavior Was an Open Secret at Fox News
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Fox News says that when they learned of the behavior of Anchor Ed Henry, they terminated him immediately.
Henry’s accusers claim differently.
Henry was fired from Fox News after some women stepped forward and accused him of sexual misconduct.
The Daily Beast reports that some of Henry’s accusers claim that his behavior as an open secret at Fox News.
The Daily Beast writes that Jennifer Eckhart, her co-complainant Cathy Areu, and several current Fox News staffers—including one who also claims to have had an affair with the now-fired anchor—Henry’s reputation for such workplace misconduct was long an open secret inside the network. And there’s simply no way Fox brass had only become aware of the rising-star anchor’s behavior just this summer, the women all claimed.
The Daily Beast reviewed text conversations in which Henry repeatedly sent graphic sexual messages and images to colleagues, and spoke with several current Fox News staffers, including one who claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Henry—all revealing just how widespread Henry’s alleged behavior was, despite Fox claiming to have only known about it from Eckhart’s complaint.
“No one complained to FOX News about Ed Henry sexually harassing them, including former employee Jennifer Eckhart and on air guest Cathy Areu, until the Wigdor firm became involved in late June and July 2020,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement.
“In February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, I told Fox Human Resources I was working in a toxic environment; my concerns were ignored. Human resources never once followed up with me about my serious concerns. Instead, they showed me the exit door,” Eckhart recalled. “With respect to [CEO] Suzanne Scott, [Fox News President] Jay Wallace, [Fox Business President] Lauren Petterson, and other executives in leadership positions at Fox, they have not only fostered and cultivated sexually inappropriate behavior in the workplace, but the tone at the top has consistently accepted and rewarded it,” she continued, echoing allegations Eckhart made in the lawsuit.
Fox told The Daily Beast in response that “this is a gross mischaracterization and is flat out wrong given how much Suzanne Scott and her leadership team has done to transform the entire culture post Ailes.”
