Woman sues Fox News and Payne of Fox Business, claiming rape

Fox News was sued on Monday by a political commentator who claimed that she had been raped by Fox Business Network anchor Charles Payne and was then retaliated against by the network after she came forward with her allegation, reports Emily Steel of The New York Times.

Steel reports, “Mr. Payne, the host of ‘Making Money’ on Fox Business, returned to the air earlier this month after the network suspended him in July pending an investigation into his conduct. Upon his return, the network said that it had completed the investigation, which came after Ms. Hughes brought her allegations to the network in late June.

“Representatives for Mr. Payne could not immediately be reached for comment, but he has previously denied claims from Ms. Hughes. In a statement released on July 7, his lawyer, Jonathan N. Halpern, said: ‘Charles Payne vehemently denies the allegations. He will defend himself vigorously against these claims and will hold those responsible to account.’

“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.'”

Read more here.

From a Fox News spokesperson:

“The latest publicity stunt of a lawsuit filed by Doug Wigdor has absolutely no merit and is downright shameful. 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.”