Woman Says Fox News Banned Her After She Accused Charles Payne of Rape
Woman Says Fox News Banned Her After She Accused Charles Payne of Rape
The lawsuit claims that Ms. Brandi and Ms. Briganti “issued a false narrative to The National Enquirer
that Ms. Hughes was a participant in an affair with Payne” and “revealed Ms. Hughes’s identity to The National Enquirer.”
Fox News said the lawsuit was “bogus” and “downright shameful.”
“We will vigorously defend this,” the network said in a statement.
Payne will be fully vindicated and these outrageous accusations against him will be confirmed as completely false.”
In her lawsuit, Ms. Hughes said that Mr. Payne had “pressured” his way into her hotel room in July 2013
and coerced her to have sexual intercourse with him, even though she had refused his advances by telling him “no” and “stop.”
According to the suit, Ms. Hughes was “shocked and ashamed” and did not immediately report the episode.
The charges in Ms. Hughes’s lawsuit echo accusations made by several other current
and former Fox News employees after the sexual harassment scandal at the network burst into public view last year, exposing a culture where women said they had faced harassment and feared reporting inappropriate behavior.
After she reported her allegations against him, she said, the network leaked a story
to the news media about a romantic affair between Ms. Hughes and Mr. Payne.
“In July of 2013, I was raped by Charles Payne,” Ms. Hughes said in an interview, referring to the allegations in her lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that Ms. Brandi and Ms. Briganti “issued a false narrative to The National Enquirer
that Ms. Hughes was a participant in an affair with Payne” and “revealed Ms. Hughes’s identity to The National Enquirer.”
Fox News said the lawsuit was “bogus” and “downright shameful.”
“We will vigorously defend this,” the network said in a statement.
Payne will be fully vindicated and these outrageous accusations against him will be confirmed as completely false.”
In her lawsuit, Ms. Hughes said that Mr. Payne had “pressured” his way into her hotel room in July 2013
and coerced her to have sexual intercourse with him, even though she had refused his advances by telling him “no” and “stop.”
According to the suit, Ms. Hughes was “shocked and ashamed” and did not immediately report the episode.
The charges in Ms. Hughes’s lawsuit echo accusations made by several other current
and former Fox News employees after the sexual harassment scandal at the network burst into public view last year, exposing a culture where women said they had faced harassment and feared reporting inappropriate behavior.
After she reported her allegations against him, she said, the network leaked a story
to the news media about a romantic affair between Ms. Hughes and Mr. Payne.
“In July of 2013, I was raped by Charles Payne,” Ms. Hughes said in an interview, referring to the allegations in her lawsuit.
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