Fox News Veteran Anchor Ed Henry Fired After Investigation Into ‘Sexual Misconduct’

Fox News has terminated veteran anchor Ed Henry after investigating a complaint about “willful sexual misconduct in the workplace,” the channel announced Wednesday in an internal memo from the network to PopCulture.com. The longtime Washington correspondent was recently named co-anchor of mid-morning program America’s Newsroom but was fired soon after the network said it received a complaint about his past behavior on June 25.

According to a statement from Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace, the network was contacted by a former employee about Henry’s behavior from “years ago.” They further state how Henry was “suspended the same day and removed from his on-air responsibilities pending investigation. Based on investigative findings, Ed has been terminated.” The complaint was first brought to Fox News by Wigdor LLP, a law firm that has represented several former employees who alleged sexual misconduct or discrimination at the company.

Details of the complaint and results of the investigation were not publicly released. America’s Newsroom will have rotating anchors fill in for Henry during the interim period, and co-anchor Sandra Smith will remain in her role.

These are not the first allegations made against the political journalist. In 2016, a tabloid report surfaced when a woman in Las Vegas said the two were having an extramarital affair. Henry then took several months off from Fox News, which said at the time it was “aware of Ed’s personal issues” and “taking some time off to work things out.” At the time, former Fox CEO Roger Ailes publicly chastised Henry, saying, “This raises serious questions about Ed’s lack of judgment, especially given his position as a journalist.”

Ailes himself was forced to resign just months later following a sexual harassment probe. One of his accusers was former Fox News personality Gretchen Carlson, who was awarded a $20 million settlement in her suit against her former boss. The network also had high-profile sexual harassment lawsuits stemming from Bill O’Reilly, who was fired in April 2017 after news broke that Fox had paid out more than $13 million to settle five sexual harassment lawsuits against him. Eric Bolling was also fired that year after being involved in a sexting scandal.

“Fox News Media strictly prohibits all forms of sexual harassment, misconduct and discrimination,” the network executives said in their statement Wednesday. “We will continue striving to maintain a safe and inclusive workplace for all employees.”