Thursday, March 28, 2024

Charles Payne Accused of Rape Days After Being Reinstated at Fox Business Network

*Charles Payne, the Fox Business Network host who was just reinstated after facing allegations of sexual harassment, now faces even stronger allegations of rape from the same accuser.

Scottie Nell Hughes, a Trump surrogate who regularly appeared on CNN during the 2016 presidential campaign and at times on Fox News, filed a complaint Monday that claims Payne raped her in 2013 and that she was retaliated against after coming forward with her allegations a few years after the initial incident allegedly took place.

An attorney for Payne, Jonathan Halpern, said his client would prevail against “outrageous” charges, according to Variety. Payne “vehemently denies any wrongdoing and will defend himself vigorously against this baseless complaint. We are confident that when the evidence is presented in this case, Mr. Payne will be fully vindicated and these outrageous accusations against him will be confirmed as completely false.”

Payne, who was suspended from his program “Making Money” in July after it was made known that harassment allegations had been levied against him by a former frequent Fox guest, was reinstated earlier this month. He denied the previous charges, in which Hughes, who has now admitted to being the accuser, alleged she was banned from Fox after ending an extramarital affair she had with the anchor in 2015. The analyst also alleged her Fox appearances were reduced after she terminated the relationship.

“On behalf of Scottie Nell Hughes, today we filed an action against Fox to hold it accountable for yet another case involving sexual harassment and retaliation inflicted by Fox executives in order to protect male, on-air talent,” said attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and Jeanne M. Christensen, in a prepared statement. “We intend to aggressively litigate Ms. Hughes’s claims and hold Fox accountable to the fullest extent under the law.”

“The latest publicity stunt of a lawsuit filed by Doug Wigdor has absolutely no merit and is downright shameful,” Fox News said in a statement. “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.”

The suit, filed in United States District Court in the Southern District of New York, alleges Hughes brought her allegations in confidence to Fox News in June of this year. In the filing, Hughes alleges Payne sexually assaulted and raped her in July of 2013, then increased invitations to her to appear on his Fox Business program. The suit suggested Fox News might cite emails that describe a consensual relationship, but then alleged any link between the two was the result of Payne using “his position of power to pressure Ms. Hughes into submission.”

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