Former Fox News anchor Ed Henry, who was fired from the network in July 2020 over allegations of sexual misconduct, filed a lawsuit against the network and CEO Suzanne Scott for defamation Wednesday.
Henry’s lawsuit seeks punitive damages and accuses the network’s CEO of issuing a statement that “sandbagged” him around the time of his firing.
More to come. See you tomorrow. ….. Ed Henry Sues Fox News For Defamation – The Hollywood Reporter https://t.co/PeRRhkGSZR
— Ed Henry (@edhenry) June 30, 2021
“On Thursday, June 25, we received a complaint about Ed Henry from a former employee’s attorney involving willful sexual misconduct in the workplace years ago,” the network wrote in an internal memo published July 1, 2020. “We immediately retained an outside law firm (which has never represented FOX News in investigations or litigation) to independently investigate the claims. Ed was suspended the same day and removed from his on-air responsibilities pending investigation.”
Henry’s lawsuit claims that Scott’s statement lent “credence to the false allegations because she was trying to save her own career and burnish her image as a tough, no nonsense female executive who cleaned up Fox News.” In reality, the suit claims, “Ms. Scott had long been an instrument to cover up the existence of sexual misconduct at Fox News.” (RELATED: ‘Mob Justice’: Geraldo Rivera Defends Cosby Release, Predicts Harvey Weinstein Might Catch A Break Too)
Fox News rejected Henry’s claims in a statement June 30 to USA Today.
“As we stated one year ago, Fox News Media conducted a thorough independent investigation into Ed Henry immediately after we were made aware of a serious misconduct claim against him by a former employee,” the statement reads. “Based on the results of those findings, we promptly terminated Mr. Henry’s employment for willful sexual misconduct and stand by the decision entirely. We are fully prepared to vigorously defend against these baseless allegations as Mr. Henry further embarrasses himself in a lawsuit rife with inaccuracies after driving his personal life into the ground with countless extramarital affairs in a desperate attempt for relevance and redemption.”
Fox News addressed Scott’s inclusion in the lawsuit in response to a Daily Caller request for comment.
“Under the leadership of CEO Suzanne Scott, FOX News Media has worked tirelessly to transform the company culture, implementing annual, mandatory in-person harassment prevention training, creating an entirely new reporting structure, more than tripling the size of our HR footprint, conducting quarterly company meetings and mentoring events, as well as executing a zero tolerance policy regarding workplace misconduct for which we engage outside independent firms to handle investigations,” a Fox News representative said.
Henry also filed lawsuits against CNN and NPR.