“That is an ugly lie I vehemently deny to my core. There is a mountain of proof that also proves its a lie,” Payne said in a statement that was posted Friday morning.
Earlier Posting...
Fox Business Network host 56-year-old Charles Payne has been suspended while 21st Century Fox investigates sexual harassment allegations made against him, the company confirmed Thursday night.
“We take issues of this nature extremely seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy for any professional misconduct,” a Fox Business Network representative said in a statement. “This matter is being thoroughly investigated and we are taking all of the appropriate steps to reach a resolution in a timely manner.”
The LA Times reports Payne, who hosts “Making Money” on the network and appears on various other programs, has acknowledged what he described as a three-year “romantic relationship” with a married female political analyst who frequently appeared on Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel from 2013 to 2016. Payne admitted to the extramarital affair in a statement to the National Enquirer published Wednesday that included an apology to his wife, children and friends.
That relationship is now being reviewed after the woman contacted Fox’s law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison last month to report her allegations of sexual misconduct. The woman, who worked for CNN last year, had a representative tell the firm she believed she was eventually blackballed from the network after she ended the affair in 2015 and tried to report Payne to top executives at Fox News, according to two sources familiar with her complaint.
Neal Korval, an attorney representing Payne, said the anchor “categorically denies” having committed any acts of sexual harassment against the woman. Korval said Payne will respond to the woman’s allegations in court if a complaint is served.
The woman has told her lawyer, who is preparing a legal complaint against Fox News and Payne, that she stayed in the relationship because she believed he would help her chances of landing a position at the network, according to the sources.
Instead, the woman is alleging, after she ended the affair her appearances were drastically reduced, the sources say.
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