JUST IN: Former Fox News Producer Who Accused Ed Henry of Rape Found Dead

(CBS screenshot)

Former Fox News producer Jennifer Eckhart, who accused disgraced ex-host Ed Henry of rape, has been found dead in Florida, TMZ reported on Monday.

TMZ reported “a heavy police presence” outside her home in Hope Sound over the weekend. Local authorities told the outlet that it appears she died by suicide.

Eckhart filed a lawsuit against Henry and Fox News in June 2020 — two weeks after she was fired — alleging that he raped her, urged her to be a “sex slave,” and performed “sadistic acts” on her in 2017 while bound with handcuffs.

Henry, once the co-host of America’s Newsroom, was fired after Fox News performed an internal investigation.

The lawsuit alleged that “Mr. Henry, approximately twice Ms. Eckhart’s age, preyed upon, manipulated and groomed Ms. Eckhart starting at the young age of 24, by exerting his abuse of power over her and her career.”

“Mr. Henry not only leveraged this imbalance of power for control over his victim, Ms. Eckhart, but asked her to be his ‘sex slave’ and his ‘little whore,’ and threatened punishment and retaliation if Ms. Eckhart did not comply with his sexual demands,” the lawsuit alleged, claiming Henry “sexually assaulted her on office property, and raped her at a hotel where Fox News frequently lodged its visiting employees.”

Henry denied the allegations at the time, saying through a lawyer that Eckhart initiated their relationship and it was consensual.

In a 2020 interview with CBS News, Eckhart said she “was paralyzed by fear” while working at Fox.

“I don’t know how you can continue to cultivate and foster an environment that rewards sexual predators consistently year after year,” she said at the time.

Last year, a federal judge dismissed Eckhart’s claims against Fox regarding allegations of sexual assault and an unsafe work environment.

Eckhart was 36 years old.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!