Fox News ‘parts ways’ with Judge Napolitano after explosive sexual harassment allegations

Fox News has parted ways with long-time legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano after a 27-year-old male production assistant shockingly accused him of sexual harassment that was graphically detailed in a lawsuit filed in New York on Monday.

The assistant’s name is John Fawcett and he works on the Larry Kudlow show for Fox Business Network. In the complaint, he alleges that Napolitano stood uncomfortably close to him in an elevator, stroked his arm, and made sexually suggestive innuendos toward him even though the two had never met before.

The charges were not only leveled at Napolitano but the media outlet itself. Fawcett claims in his lawsuit that Fox News executives were fully aware of Napolitano’s predilections and chose to do nothing about them. The suit was filed in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan and asserted “sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and racial discrimination are still tolerated at Fox.”

After an internal investigation, Fox News released a statement: “Upon first learning of John Fawcett’s allegations against Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News Media immediately investigated the claims and addressed the matter with both parties. The network and Judge Napolitano have since parted ways. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, are committed to providing a safe, transparent, and collaborative workplace environment for all our employees and took immediate, appropriate action.”

2021.08.02 Complaint Judge … by Jim Hoft

 

Fawcett was originally hired by Fox News in March of 2019 and worked on Lou Dobbs’ show.

The original complaint in the lawsuit states:

“One of Fox’s foremost contributors, Judge Andrew Napolitano, has sexually harassed numerous young male employees during his tenure at Fox News, and Plaintiff John Fawcett, age 27, is one of those young men. Judge Napolitano’s misconduct was reported to Fox’s human resources department by the Plaintiff and others, and senior executives were aware of Judge Napolitano’s serial harassment, but Fox took no action whatsoever against Judge Napolitano. Instead, Fox allowed him to appear on-air regularly.”

 

In the “Statement of Facts” in the complaint, Fawcett asserts:

“The Plaintiff began working for Fox Business in March of 2019 as an entry-level production assistant. In late September or early October of that year, the Plaintiff encountered Judge Napolitano on an elevator at Fox News headquarters in Manhattan. Even though the two had never met previously, Judge Napolitano stood awkwardly close to the Plaintiff, started stroking his arm, and asked who the Plaintiff worked for. The Plaintiff said he worked for Lou Dobbs, and Judge Napolitano said he had a maple syrup farm in New Jersey. “You see these hands?” Judge Napolitano asked while looking at the Plaintiff suggestively. “They look clean, but they get really dirty.” He then told the Plaintiff to visit his farm if the Plaintiff was ever in New Jersey farm or, if not, the Plaintiff could visit his Manhattan apartment during the week. Shortly thereafter, the elevator reached the floor where the Plaintiff worked, and the Plaintiff politely excused himself before exiting the elevator.”

 

The incident elicited laughter from Fawcett’s colleagues after he told them about his encounter with Napolitano, according to the lawsuit.

“It was common knowledge that Judge Napolitano sexually harassed young men at Fox News, and it had even happened to one of the plaintiff’s co-workers. The plaintiff did not initially report the incident to human resources, however, because he did not want to jeopardize his career at Fox, but he did tell Mr. Dobbs,” the suit contends.

Dobbs reportedly went to the network’s Chief Human Resources Officer Kevin Lord over the matter and demanded that he take action over the allegations. The suit claims that nothing happened after that even though there were two other lawsuits filed previously against the legal analyst that accused him of sexual harassment.

Napolitano has denied in the past all allegations against him and has called them “pure fiction.”

Fawcett also accused Larry Kudlow of making racial slurs and inappropriate sexual comments “in front of multiple staffers,” including not only himself but a senior vice president as well. He claims that Kudlow expressed a desire to have a “three-way” with a Fox anchor. No actions were forthcoming concerning the issue.

The production assistant accused Kudlow of making racial slurs during a phone conference on immigration, “Why don’t we just let the Mexicans in?” before suggesting that “we” need more “jalapeño pickers.”

He goes on to allege in the lawsuit that Kudlow would not have Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) on his show because of his race. “No, no, no, I don’t want the black on the show,” Kudlow was alleged to have said.

Fawcett also accused a female executive producer of discriminating against male employees and seeking to replace them with women. He says that she tried to get him to resign or be fired.

The network released a strong statement on Monday night dismissing Fawcett’s other allegations against Fox News as an “attempt at a payday,” vowing to legally address the matter “vigorously.”

“The additional allegations laid out in this claim are completely baseless and nothing more than a desperate attempt at a payday by trying the case in the court of public opinion as the complaint does not meet the standards of the law. We will defend the matter vigorously in court,” the statement read.

It is unclear exactly why Fox News would dismiss all other allegations that Fawcett made against the network while dismissing Napolitano over his claims.

Many on social media doubt the accusations against Napolitano and Kudlow:

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