Ed Henry Fired By Fox News

Here are more details, from NPR:

The Fox News Channel has fired one of its leading news anchors, Ed Henry, following an outside investigation of "willful sexual misconduct in the workplace."

Details were not available.

Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President and Executive Editor Jay Wallace called the situation "a very serious matter" in an internal memo sent to staffers earlier Wednesday and shared with NPR and other news outlets. Henry's co-host on America's Newsroom, Sandra Smith, informed the show's audience earlier Wednesday morning. Henry did not respond to detailed requests for comment.

NPR has learned that Henry was given more prestigious roles by the network despite a colleague's warning to top executives that doing so could damage Fox's efforts at reforming its workplace culture. Numerous executives and on-air stars had been forced out after facing a blizzard of sexual harassment accusations in recent years. Several former colleagues tell NPR that Henry repeatedly pursued younger female staffers during his time at Fox.

Henry, 48, joined the network in 2011 from CNN and became Fox's chief White House correspondent. In 2016, he was sidelined from covering Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign after tabloids disclosed his extramarital relationship with a Las Vegas hostess.

Then-Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes was outraged because he believed news of the affair would prevent Henry from pressing the Clinton campaign about former President Bill Clinton's marital infidelities and alleged misconduct, several Fox News journalists told NPR at the time. Henry was removed from the White House and politics team and reassigned to the general Washington bureau.

The accusation prompting his firing was lodged last Thursday by a former colleague who is represented by New York City attorney Douglas Wigdor. Fox previously paid $10 million to settle gender and racial-discrimination suits against the network on behalf of 18 other former staffers represented by Wigdor.

The alleged incident that prompted Henry's firing occurred several years ago. And his termination takes place nearly four years to the day that a wave of accusations of sexual harassment and coercion triggered the firing of the network's defining figure: Ailes himself.

Steady promotions despite warnings

After the scandal in 2016, Henry revived his career. He became the substitute host of Fox & Friends Weekend and a chief national correspondent. In December, he become the co-host of the morning show America's Newsroom. That revival was conditioned on Henry's completion of a sexual addiction rehabilitation program, according to several former colleagues.

His career resurgence became a source of consternation for some co-workers.

Several former colleagues tell NPR that over the years, Henry proved aggressively flirtatious with younger, female Fox staffers. He sometimes sent graphic notes and even graphic images to them, according to these colleagues.

In 2017, a written complaint was filed to senior Fox executives warning against giving Henry greater profile on the air, including as a substitute host and anchor, according to a former colleague with knowledge of those events.

The complaint said the prospect of Henry's greater prominence on Fox was crushing for female colleagues after the network had promised sweeping changes following Ailes' ouster. Among those with whom the complaint was shared: Jay Wallace, Fox's chief news executive, and Kevin Lord, the chief human relations executive who was brought in with the mandate to help transform the culture.

Not everyone is buying the story:

And from CNN:

Fox News said Wednesday that Ed Henry, one of its top news anchors, had been fired after the network received a complaint last week of sexual harassment from years ago.

"On Thursday, June 25, we received a complaint about Ed Henry from a former employee's attorney involving willful sexual misconduct in the workplace years ago," Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace wrote in an email to employees.

Scott and Wallace said that Henry was "suspended the same day and removed from his on-air responsibilities" while a third-party law firm investigated the matter.
"Based on investigative findings, Ed has been terminated," they said.

Scott and Wallace said that "rotating anchors" will fill in for Henry, who served as co-anchor of the channel's morning show "America's Newsroom," until a permanent replacement is named.

"Fox News Media strictly prohibits all forms of sexual harassment, misconduct, and discrimination," Scott and Wallace said. "We will continue striving to maintain a safe and inclusive workplace for all employees."

Henry did not respond to requests for comment, but on Wednesday afternoon his attorney Catherine Foti said he intends to clear his name.

"Ed Henry denies the allegations referenced in the Fox announcement and is confident that he will be vindicated after a full hearing in an appropriate forum," Foti said.

The high-profile attorney Douglas Wigdor, who has represented several women who have filed lawsuits against Fox News, said in a statement Wednesday morning that he is representing Henry's accuser. Wigdor said that he wasn't "presently at liberty to share further information."

News of Henry's swift firing stunned Fox News employees who learned of the sudden termination over email, people at the network told CNN Business.

Henry joined Fox in 2011 after seven years at CNN. He covered the Obama administration as Fox's chief White House correspondent. He later helmed much of the network's coverage of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.

He was sidelined in spring 2016, however, following a tabloid magazine's report about an extramarital affair. Salacious stories led the network's CEO at the time, Roger Ailes, to publicly rebuke him, saying "this raises serious questions about Ed's lack of judgment, especially given his position as a journalist."

Henry eventually worked his way back into Fox's good graces. He filled in on pro-Trump opinion shows like "Fox & Friends Weekend" and "Tucker Carlson Tonight," winning the affections of Fox viewers.

His 2019 decision to donate part of his liver to save his sister Colleen's life was chronicled across Fox's shows. Both siblings recovered, and Henry wrote a memoir about the experience, which was due out in September. A spokesperson for publisher William Morrow, however, said Wednesday that the publisher would "no longer be publishing" Henry's book.

Henry was a favorite of network management. Last winter he was promoted to co-anchor the 9, 10 and 11 a.m. Eastern hours with Sandra Smith on "America's Newsroom."