Fox News Channel stars Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Howard Kurtz were accused of sexual harassment by a frequent on-air guest in a lawsuit filed Monday that the network called frivolous. In the same case, a former Fox employee said she was harassed and raped by news anchor Ed Henry, who was fired July 1.
Hannity and Carlson represent two-thirds of Fox's lucrative prime-time lineup, while Kurtz hosts the weekend "Media Buzz" show. None of the men have been mentioned before in any misconduct allegations at Fox until the charges were made by Cathy Areu.
The lawsuit filed in New York describes Areu's discomfort with a March 2018 incident when Hannity allegedly put $100 on a desk and challenged the men on his staff to take her out on a date. She said she was a guest on Carlson's show in December 2018 and that he told her he was staying in a hotel room that night without his wife and children. In 2019, she said Kurtz invited her to his hotel room to discuss her hope of getting a full-time job at Fox. Based on an outside law firm's investigation, Fox said it found Areu's claims "false."
Areu also said she got lewd messages from Henry. But it was the accusations made by Jennifer Eckhart, a former employee, that led to the anchor's dismissal. Her allegations weren't made public when Henry was fired. Eckhart, who was 24 at the time, said Henry, 49, restrained her with metal handcuffs, took nude pictures of her and raped her in a hotel room.
Henry's lawyer, Catherine Foti, said Eckhart initiated a relationship. Eckhart's lawyer, Michael Willemin, accused Foti of suggesting "that she was asking to be violently raped. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Trebek expects to mark 2-year survival
Alex Trebek says he's responding exceptionally well to treatment for pancreatic cancer and expects to mark his two-year survival in February. "So I expect to be around," said the "Jeopardy!" host, who turns 80 on Wednesday. Trebek's memoir, "The Answer Is … Reflections On My Life," will be published Tuesday.
Expecting: Nicki Minaj has a new release coming: her first child. The rapper took to Instagram to announce she is pregnant, posting photos of her baby bump. One caption simply read: "#Preggers." She also wrote on another post, "Love. Marriage. Baby carriage." Minaj married Kenneth Petty last year.
allegations: The book manuscript being drafted by President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen alleges that Trump made anti-Semitic and racist comments against such leaders as Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, "neither of whom [Trump] viewed as real leaders," said court filings made public Monday that contend Cohen was sent back to prison as retaliation for seeking to publish his memoir before November's election. He was rearrested July 9, less than two months after he was approved for home confinement. His attorneys allege that Cohen was detained at the federal courthouse during a meeting with probation officers, who asked him to sign a gag order prohibiting him from speaking to the media or publishing a book while serving the rest of his sentence. Authorities said Cohen was arrested because he refused to wear an ankle monitor, a claim his legal team disputes.
