Charles Payne and Scottie Nell Hughes. Photo courtesy of The Right Scoop.
Summary: Scottie Nell Hughes has filed a retaliation lawsuit against Fox News.
Another shocking allegation has been filed against a Fox News host. This time it’s for anchor Charles Payne, who was accused by a former political guest of sexual harassment.
Scottie Nell Hughes sued Fox News on Monday, according to The Hill. The ex-Fox News contributor said that the network retaliated against her after she filed a claim that she was raped by Payne, 56.
Hughes, 37, said that the first time she had sex with Payne was in 2013 after he had forced his way into her hotel room after her appearance on a show. She said that she was coerced and had told him repeatedly “No” and “Stop.” She said that she maintained a sexual relationship with him from 2013 to 2015 in order to get asked back for television appearances and that when she ended their physical relationship he had her blacklisted by the network.
“In July of 2013, I was raped by Charles Payne. In July of 2017, I was raped again by Fox News. Since then, I have been living an absolute hell,” Hughes told The New York Times.
Her lawyers said that Fox not only dropped her from their guest lineup but also smeared her by leaking her name to a tabloid, who had published the story that she had an affair with a Fox News host.
“After Ms. Hughes confidentially reached out to Fox to disclose that she was sexually assaulted and raped by Fox anchor Charles Payne, Fox ruthlessly leaked her name to a reporter at the National Enquirer, along with a self-serving ‘statement’ by Payne apologizing for what he falsely described as an ‘affair,’ ”Hughes’s attorneys, Douglas H. Wigdor and Jeanne M. Christensen said.
Earlier this month, Payne returned to the conservative news network after he was suspended in July during the sexual harassment investigation sparked by Hughes’ complaint. Hughes’ lawsuit comes at a time when the network has faced other highly-publicized allegations of sexual harassment against their powerhouse players such as Bill O’Reilly, Eric Bolling, and the late Roger Ailes. All of those claims had resulted in investigations conducted by law firm, Paul Weiss.
On Monday, Fox News released a statement, defending themselves against Hughes’ claims.
“The latest publicity stunt of a lawsuit filed by Doug Wigdor has absolutely no merit and is downright shameful,” a Fox News spokesperson said. “We will vigorously defend this. It’s worth noting that Doug is Ms. Hughes’ third representative in the last six months to raise some variation of these claims which concern events from four years ago, since it apparently took some time to find someone willing to file this bogus case.”
Charles Payne is married and the host of Fox’s Making Money with Charles Payne. Scottie Nell Hughes is a conservative political commentator who appeared on CNN in 2016 in support of then candidate Donald Trump.