The Volokh Conspiracy

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Free Speech

New #TheyLied Libel Lawsuit, Ed Henry v. Fox News

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From the Complaint:

9…. [In December 2019, Defendant Suzanne Scott, CEO Fox News] announced that she was promoting Plaintiff to be co-anchor of the popular news show "American Newsroom." Within a few months of his promotion, however, Ms. Scott and Fox News turned against Plaintiff and abruptly fired him, publicly humiliating him in the process.

10. In a public statement, Ms. Scott stated that Plaintiff was guilty of unspecified sexual misconduct, and she did so at a time when she knew, or should have known, that: (1) Plaintiff had been falsely accused of rape or serious sexual misconduct by a former Fox News employee; and (2) those false allegations would soon become public.

11. Regrettably, Ms. Scott sandbagged Plaintiff with her statement, lending 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.

12. In reality, however, Ms. Scott had long been an instrument to cover up the existence of sexual misconduct at Fox News.

You can read the Complaint for more details; I hope to post more on the legal issues as there are more developments.

UPDATE: Fox News' responses are available at Deadline (Bruce Haring).