Ed Henry, who was fired from Fox News in 2020 over rape allegations raised by former Fox Business Network associate Jennifer Eckhart, has been accused of sexually assaulting a second woman at the network in a new court filing by Eckhart.
The bombshell claim that another woman was sexually assaulted by Henry while he was a star at Fox News, which was given as sworn testimony by the alleged victim, is just the latest flashpoint in a legal saga that has been mired in the courts for four years now. It also has sparked questions from those who currently work with Henry at MAGA channel Newsmax: “How the hell does this guy have a job?”
Other current and former colleagues of Henry’s, meanwhile, said that the newest allegations included in Eckhart’s lawsuit are “horrific” while taking a shot at Newsmax for employing him despite past accusations of sexual misconduct and harassment.
One former colleague said that “Eckhart’s story doesn’t shock me, especially the part that says multiple men accused of rape or assault are still at Fox.”
In her original lawsuit against both Henry and the network filed in July 2020, Eckhart claims that the former Fox News anchor “groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced” her into a sexual relationship while referring to her as his personal “sex slave,” which she says began in 2014. She also alleges that Henry violently raped her in 2017 when she “would not comply voluntarily” with his sexual demands.
The complaint accuses Fox News of downplaying the severity of the risk of sexual misconduct and harassment Henry posed to female employees. She also claims that Fox News retaliated against her for complaining about the hostile work environment she was subjected to, leading to her being terminated in June 2020.
Henry has long denied Eckhart’s accusations while Fox News has pointed out that the network fired Henry immediately after learning of Eckhart’s accusations. “Upon first learning of Jennifer Eckhart’s allegations in 2020, Fox News promptly conducted an investigation by an outside independent law firm, which resulted in senior management and HR terminating Ed Henry within six days,” the network said in a statement after the lawsuit was first filed.
Earlier this fall, Fox News filed a motion for summary judgment in the case. In its filing, Fox News argued that Eckhart “did not tell anyone about her sexual encounters with Henry” and didn’t file any complaints about harassment or retaliation until after she was fired by the network. In response, Eckhart’s lawyer, Michael Willemin of Wigdor Law, Eckhart, admitted that she did not inform the network about Henry’s sexual misconduct until she departed Fox, though she has said in the past that Henry’s behavior was an “open secret” at the network.
“After having missed their deadline for filing, the lawyers for Ms. Eckhart are now desperately trying to salvage their case,” Fox News said in a statement to The Independent. “As discovery in this matter has confirmed, FOX News was not aware of any relationship between Ms. Eckhart and Mr. Henry or of any allegations of unwelcome sexual activity by Mr. Henry until after she left the company.”
In response to Fox News’ statement, Willemin said: “As made clear in today’s filings, there is no merit to Fox News’ or Ed Henry’s desperate attempts to extricate themselves from this case. We firmly believe that Fox News and Mr. Henry are going to be held accountable by a jury or Ms. Eckhart’s peers, and we are very much looking forward to pushing this case to trial.”
In his filing on behalf of Eckhart, which was first reported by Mediaite, Willemin lays out a series of new allegations of harassment and sexual assault by Henry while at Fox News, arguing that the network was well aware of the “significant risk” Henry posed before firing him in 2020. Willemin also states that Fox News “failed to investigate” other allegations against Henry, even though there was precedent due to Fox suspending Henry in 2016 over an extramarital “affair” he had with a cocktail waitress, prompting him to be sent to a sex addiction center.
Fox News said in a statement that “it learned about the new assault allegation only during this litigation and that no employees warned executives about Henry engaging in sexual harassment while he was employed at Fox.” Additionally, in its summary judgment filing, the network argues that “the evidence proves that it did not become aware of any allegation that Henry engaged in unwelcome sexual conduct until after Henry and Eckhart had both left the company.”
Willemin’s motion also claims that another Fox News staffer was sexually assaulted by Henry in 2017. “Fox News’ treatment of Mr. Henry following his return to the network only served to embolden him, as he escalated his abusive treatment of women by not only raping Ms. Eckhart, but also sexually assaulting another Fox News colleague,” the filing states, redacting the name of the alleged victim.
The 39-page filing also includes a heavily redacted section that describes allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct against several men who remain employed at Fox News, asserting that the network is a “safe haven for men who engage in sexual harassment and assault.”
Meanwhile, in its summary judgment filing, Fox News states that Eckhart only waited two weeks after she was fired for longstanding performance failures – and three years after the alleged sexual assault occurred – to raise the allegations with Fox through her lawyers. It also notes that prior to Eckhart’s complaint, Fox News had only received reports of consensual sexual activity regarding Henry, and once they investigated Eckhart’s claims, they quickly took action and fired the longtime anchor.
Henry’s attorney Eden Quainton told The Independent that while she “would have a comment, but likely not today.” She also said she’d “encourage” this reporter “to look at all the filings on the case and not just the outrageous allegations du jour.”
After his unceremonious departure from Fox News, Henry eventually resurfaced at the fringe right-wing channel Real America’s Voice, where he was once again accused of engaging in lewd sexual behavior and harassment. In a human resources complaint that was first reported this summer, Henry allegedly sent a young female staffer a series of sexually explicit text messages while eventually establishing a “grooming” relationship with her.
The report, which came out months after Henry left RAV for Newsmax, resulted in Henry’s removal from the network’s presidential debate coverage in June. Despite the brief benching, Henry has remained in the good graces of Newsmax.
Neither the network nor Henry responded to a request for comment.
Henry’s employment at Newsmax was already unpopular with network staffers prior to these latest allegations. When it was merely rumored he was being hired, employees fumed to Mediaite that Henry was a “legal risk.” Staffers told The Independent that they just don’t get why the network is taking a chance on him.
“Ed Henry being in Florida has him out of sight, out of mind most of the time,” one Newsmax employee told The Independent, referencing Henry’s current location near Boca Raton. “However, after that most recent court filing, some people are wondering: how the hell does this guy have a job?”
In a lengthy statement on her Instagram account, Eckhart – who now hosts her own podcast – said of her latest filing that “despite the millions of dollars spent by a publicly traded company to attempt to discredit me, and the indisputable facts I have brought forth, this litigation process is now one step closer to trial.”She added that her “heart goes out to every other woman that has suffered at the hands of Ed Henry,” noting that she’s learned throughout this case that she’s “not the only survivor and Fox News employee he has groomed and sexually assaulted.”
