Photo credit: The Goldwater

Former Fox News Commentator Scottie Nell Hughes has filed a lawsuit claiming that current host of “Making Money” on Fox Business raped her and then Fox News covered up the claims.

Longtime Fox News anchor Charles Payne returned to the air at the beginning of this month after a suspension while an investigation was concluded by Fox into his conduct.

Fox News has claimed that it completed its investigation into the claims made by Hughes in June, which apparently they've come to the conclusion that it was fine to bring Charles Payne back to television.

Charles Payne has yet to respond to the mind blowing allegations and an attorney for Payne, Jonathan Halpern could not be reached for new comments.

In early July Halpern said in behalf of his client, “Charles Payne vehemently denies the allegations. He will defend himself vigorously against these claims and will hold those responsible to account.”

In her lawsuit, Scottie Nell Hughes said openly that Charles Payne had “pressured” his way into her hotel room, after repeated attempts by her to keep him out back in July of 2013 and coerced her to have sexual intercourse with him, even though she according to Hughes she had refused his advances by telling him “no” and “stop.”

Scottie Nell Hughes claims that she was not only embarrassed but “shocked and ashamed” over what happened and didn't immediately come forward, which is often the case with similar claims of forced sexual assault.

She also claims that over the following two years after the alleged incident occurred that she was forced to continue a relationship with Hughes in exchange for both promotion from Fox and Fox Business where she received career opportunities including more on-air appearances and a promise for a paid contributor contract, which pays several hundred thousand annually in return for her continued agreement to continue the relationship in silence.

While she was a regular guest on Fox from 2013 to 2016, she claims once she ended the abusive relationship with Payne that Fox “blacklisted her” and has refused to have her back on the network on the same fashion she was regularly appearing before, which can be backed up by her guest appearances after the time of the termination of the relationship.

She claims that once she told Fox News about the rape the company then began leaking false allegations about a willful romantic relationship between the two in order to cover up the sexual assault and discredit her in the future.

“In July of 2013, I was raped by Charles Payne,” Ms. Hughes said in an interview, referring to the allegations in her lawsuit. “In July of 2017, I was raped again by Fox News. Since then, I have been living an absolute hell.”

The groundbreaking lawsuit is earth shattering for Fox, who has been rocked with one sexual assault claim after another over the past several years and has a terrifying reputation as it currently stands.

The claims in the lawsuit allege gender motivated violence, gender discrimination, retaliation and defamation, amongst the attempts to cover up the sexual assault.

The suit was filed on Monday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. It named 21st Century Fox, Fox News and Charles Payne.

The suit also names several top level Fox employees including Dianne Brandi, the Executive Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs at Fox News, and Irena Briganti, the network’s Executive Vice President t of Corporate Communications.

According to the lawsuit, Scottie Nell Hughes says that Ms. Brandi and Ms. Briganti “knowingly and maliciously aided and abetted the unlawful employment practices, discrimination and retaliation” against her in attempts to punish her for being assaulted

The lawsuit claims that Ms. Brandi and Ms. Briganti “issued a false narrative to the National Enquirer that Ms. Hughes was a participant in an affair with Payne” and “revealed Ms. Hughes’s identity to the National Enquirer.”

Representatives for 21st Century Fox and Fox News could not immediately be reached for comment at this time but it's certainly going to send shockwaves across the already troubled network.

Source:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/business/media/fox-news-lawsuit-charles-payne.html

—<i>[email protected]</i>

<i>On Twitter:</i>

<a href="https://www.twitter.com/IWillRedPillYou">@IWillRedPillYou</a>

Tips? Info? Send me a message!