Ex-Fox News Staffer Accusing Ed Henry of Rape Speaks Out: He Was ‘Absolutely’ Abusive… ‘I Was Paralyzed By Fear’
Jennifer Eckhart, a former associate producer for Fox Business, spoke out Tuesday in disturbing detail about her claim that Ed Henry raped her.
Jericka Duncan of CBS News spoke to Eckart about her lawsuit against Henry, which comes weeks after Fox News fired the former host following a sexual misconduct investigation. Eckart appeared in a joint interview with Cathy Areu, a co-plaintiff who claims Henry was abusive and sexually inappropriate with her. Areu, a frequent Fox News guest, also claims Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and other network stars harassed her.
In the segment, Eckart recalled how Henry spoke about her physical attractiveness shortly after they met for the first time. Eckart claimed in the lawsuit that Henry raped her, asked her to be a “sex slave,” and performed “sadistic acts” on her in 2017 while she was bound by metal handcuffs.
“Would you characterize the relationship you were in with Ed Henry as mainly abusive?” Duncan asked.
“Absolutely. Without question,” Eckart answered. “I felt that he had the power to derail me, to destroy me, to ruin my career, and I just… I didn’t have a voice until now.”
Duncan asked Eckart if she ever felt “safe” working at Fox.
“It’s safe to say I was paralyzed by fear when I was working there,” Eckart answered. “I don’t know how you can continue to cultivate and foster an environment that rewards sexual predators consistently year after year.”
“I kind of got numb to it,” Areu said of the alleged harassment she faced from Henry. “I thought it was perfectly fine to receive pornographic images and gifts. I thought that was normal for a male anchor to do.” She also recalled several of her male former colleagues complaining that they had to attend seminars to train them on how to avoid sexually harassing behavior.
Henry denied Eckhart’s allegations through a lawyer, who stated Eckhart initiated the “consensual” relationship. Fox News, which fired Henry after Eckhart made a complaint in June, did not challenger her claims in a statement responding to the lawsuit. The network did insist that “all of Cathy Areu’s claims” are “false.”
Read the full statement below.
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 25 and Mr. Henry is no longer employed by the network
Watch above, via CBS.
