Former Fox News anchor Ed Henry settled a yearslong lawsuit with a former producer who accused him of rape and trying to turn her into his “sex slave,” court documents revealed.
Henry and his accuser, Jennifer Eckhart, told New York federal judge Ronnie Abrams on Sunday that they had reached a settlement, according to a letter filed with the Southern District of New York court. The settlement news came just as the case, which Eckhart filed in 2020, was gearing up for trial.
Eckhart told People the saga had been “an exhaustive, retraumatizing, five-year legal battle with incredible challenges that at times I almost felt [I] was unable to bear.”
“With this settlement in place, a weight has now been lifted from my shoulders and my passion to support fellow trauma survivors has been renewed,” she said.
Eckhart also told the Daily Beast in a statement that she “didn’t just survive—I reinvented.”
“We are pleased that we have been able to resolve Ms. Eckhart’s claims against Mr. Henry, and we look forward to pursuing an appeal of the decision that dismissed Fox News from this action,” Eckhart’s lawyer, Wigdor LLP’s Michael Willemin, said in a statement.
“This matter has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties, and the parties are moving on with their lives,” Gary Rosen, Henry’s lawyer, said in a statement.
Henry has since become Newsmax’s chief news anchor. Newsmax did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
Eckhart sued Henry and Fox News in 2020, claiming Henry had groomed her while she was a 24-year-old producer at the network. Eckhart alleged Henry demanded she be his “sex slave” and “threatened punishment and retaliation if [Eckhart] didn’t comply with his sexual demands.”
“Ms. Eckhart was violently raped while helpless and restrained in metal handcuffs, as Mr. Henry performed sadistic acts on her without her consent that left her injured, bruised and battered with bloody wrists,” her lawyers wrote at the time.
Her attorneys also alleged Henry had taken photos of her, which he intended to use to blackmail her.
Eckhart also alleged Fox News knew about the misconduct as far back as 2017, did nothing about it, and promoted Henry instead. Eckhart told Fox News in June 2020 she planned to file a lawsuit, and the network cut ties with Henry shortly afterward.
Henry denied all the allegations and claimed he would fight the case “with every fiber of my being.”
Since filing the lawsuit, Eckhart has launched a podcast called REINVENTED with Jen Eckhart and started a nonprofit, The Reinvented Project. “I turned pain into purpose,” Eckhart said in her statement.
“I think the overarching theme, as far as this case not going to trial, is that survivors do not require validation from a courtroom to emerge stronger than what tries to break them,” she told People.
Fox News was dismissed by the judge as a defendant in March, though Eckhart told People she planned on appealing the dismissal. “This is a turning point in corporate America where we are putting standards on notice,” Eckhart said.
A Fox News spokesperson pointed the Daily Beast to its March statement, which said the network was “pleased” by the decision. “The only people who know what happened between Mr. Henry and Ms. Eckhart are the two of them,” a spokesperson for the network said at the time.
“We look forward to defending the dismissal on appeal,” the spokesperson said on Monday.
Still, Eckhart vows to move forward. “With this chapter now closed, my pursuit of truth continues—on the mic, on the record, and in the appellate courts against Fox News,” she told the Daily Beast.
