Overview

The Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Ed Henry Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit refers to a suit filed by two former Fox News employees that accuse members of the Fox News staff of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Former Fox news employee Jennifer Eckhart has accused former Fox News chief national correspondent Ed Henry of rape. Cathy Areu claims that Fox hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and two other Fox journalists sexually harassed her. Fox News fired Ed Henry in July 2020 over the allegations. The network denied all other claims made towards its staff, except for those made towards Ed Henry.

Background

On July 1st, 2020, Fox News fired its Cheif National Correspondent, Ed Henry, following allegations of sexual misconduct.^[1] In a statement the network wrote:

On Thursday, June 25th, we received a complaint about Ed Henry from a former employee's attorney involving willful sexual misconduct in the workplace years ago. Based on the investigative findings, Ed has been terminated.

On July 20th, Cathy Areu and Jennifer Eckhart filed suit against numerous members of the Fox News staff, including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Ed Henry, journalist Howard Kurtz and political analyst Gianno Caldwell.^[2] Areu claims that Ed Henry raped her. The suit states:

Mr. Henry was far from the only Fox News anchor who subjected Ms. Areu to sexual harassment. She was also subjected to inappropriate sexual harassment and retaliation by Mr. Hannity, Mr. Carlson, Mr. Kurtz and Gianno Caldwell.

According to NBC, "[Jennifer] Eckhart is suing Fox and Henry for violations of federal sex-trafficking laws, New York state and city human rights laws, and for gender-motivated violence under New York City's administrative code."

Areu alleges in the suit that on March 8th, 2018, "Mr. Hannity, on set and in front of the entire studio crew -- and completely unsolicited -- threw $100 on the set desk. He then began calling out to the men in the room and demanding that someone take Ms. Areu out on a date for drinks at [New York City steakhouse] Del Frisco." The suit continues to state that Carlson made sexual advances toward Areu, "retaliating" against her by not inviting her back onto Carlson's show. The filing says, "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."

Of Henry, the suit states that Henry's lawyer notified Fox News of the allegations against Henry, which says "in graphic and specific detail, how Mr. Henry groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced Ms. Eckhart into having a sexual relationship with him." Areu says the Henry referred to her as his "sex slave" and according to the suit,^[7] "when she would not comply voluntarily, [Henry] sexually assaulted her on office property, and raped her at a hotel where Fox News frequently lodged its visiting employees."

Developments

Jennifer Eckhart Statement

On July 20th, Eckhart tweeted^[4] a statement. The post received more than 4,300 likes and 1,100 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Fox News Statement

On July 20th, a Fox News spokesperson denied the allegations against current employees, excluding Henry.^[3] They said of the lawsuit:

Based on the findings of a comprehensive independent investigation conducted by an outside law firm, including interviews with numerous eyewitnesses, we have determined that all of Cathy Areu's claims against FOX News, including its management as well as its hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity & Howard Kurtz and its contributor Gianno Caldwell, are false, patently frivolous and utterly devoid of any merit.

We take all claims of harassment, misconduct and retaliation seriously, promptly investigating them and taking immediate action as needed -- in this case, the appropriate action based on our investigation is to defend vigorously against these baseless allegations. Ms. Areu and Jennifer Eckhart can pursue their claims against Ed Henry directly with him, as FOX News already took swift action as soon as it learned of Ms. Eckhart's claims on June 25th and Mr. Henry is no longer employed by the network.

Ed Henry's Statement

That day, Ed Henry's lawyer, Catherine Foti issued this statement on Henry's behalf:

The Me Too movement has helped to bring to light a number of injustices in our society, and everyone that has suffered deserves to be heard," the statement said. "This is not one of those cases. The evidence in this case will demonstrate that Ms. Eckhart initiated and completely encouraged a consensual relationship. Ed Henry looks forward to presenting actual facts and evidence, which will contradict the fictional accounts contained in the complaint. That evidence includes graphic photos and other aggressively suggestive communications that Ms. Eckhart sent to Mr. Henry.

That night, Henry tweeted^[6] the statement and added, "I will fight with every fiber of my being. A statement from attorney Cathy Foti." The tweet received more than 7,000 likes and 1,600 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Online Reaction

On July 20th, Twitter^[5] published an Events page on the lawsuit. Reporter Justin Baragona wrote, "Besides Eckhart's allegation that Henry brutally raped her, Cathy Areu -- known to Fox viewers as 'The Liberal Sherpa' -- claims Henry and Fox stars Sean Hannity & Tucker Carlson were all involved in sexually harassing her and sending her inappropriate sexual images and texts." The tweet received more than 2,100 likes and 1,300 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

That day, Redditor rageofthegods posted about the lawsuit in the /r/television^[8] subreddit. The post received more than 45,000 points (88% upvoted) and 2,700 comments in less than 24 hours.

Search Interest

External References