A lawsuit from former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros details a rash of sexual harassment incidents at the network and accuses ex-Sen. Scott Brown of making “sexually inappropriate comments” to her and grabbing her waist from behind.

The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan and obtained by ThinkProgress, charges that Tantaros was subject to sexual harassment by a number of Fox News executives, including founder Roger Ailes and host Bill O’Reilly. Ailes resigned from Fox News last month amid a sexual harassment investigation sparked by a lawsuit from another female host, Gretchen Carlson.

Further, Tantaros’s suit alleges that when she took her harassment complaints to higher-ups, she was punished and taken off the air.

“Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny,” the suit says.


In particular, the lawsuit references incidents with Brown, the former senator of Massachusetts, when he appeared alongside Tantaros on the show Outnumbered on August 18, 2015.

“Brown made a number of sexually inappropriate comments to Tantaros on set, including, and in a suggestive manner, that Tantaros ‘would be fun to go to a nightclub with,'” the lawsuit says.

After the show, Brown “snuck up behind” Tantaros at lunch and “put his hands on her lower waist,” according to the lawsuit, at which point Tantaros “immediately pulled back” from the touch and told him to “stop.”

Tantaros allegedly went to senior executive Bill Shine to complain and ask that Brown not be booked on the show again. However, Brown continued to appear on Outnumbered.

Brown, who recently celebrated his 30th anniversary with his wife Gail Huff, told Politico that the accusations were “completely and totally false.”

“I had little, if any contact with Ms. Tantaros and always treated her and every other employee at Fox with professionalism,” he said.

In comments to the Boston Herald, Brown specifically denied the “nightclub” comment as well as the broader accusations.

“First of all, I don’t go to nightclubs. I haven’t been to a club in 30 years. I don’t even dance,” Brown said. “And that’s not how I talk. I don’t even know what to say. I’m at a loss. I treat the people from the elevators to the makeup chair and everyone in between with dignity and respect. I don’t go around and touch other people’s waists.”


Brown also told the Herald that he has “no interest” in Tantaros.

“She’s a nice person, but that’s about it. I go in and do my shows and then I leave,” he said. “She’s never confronted me, said anything, did anything. No harsh looks, no bad words, nothing.”

In a tweet Monday afternoon, Brown referred to his experience as a survivor of sexual abuse as a child as another reason he said the allegations were untrue.

As a survivor of sexual abuse, I would never perpetuate language or actions as described in FOX complaint. Actions referenced are fabricated — Scott P. Brown (@SenScottBrown) August 23, 2016

A spokesperson for Fox News said the company does not comment on pending legislation.

In that Aug. 18 episode, parts of which you can watch below, Tantaros and Brown banter about his nude pose in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1982. At the end of the clip, Tantaros says that she plans to ask Brown if he would pose for Playgirl, eliciting a “wow” from Brown.