Scottie Nell Hughes Sues Fox News, Charles Payne Over Rape Allegations

Conservative political commentator Scottie Nell Hughes has claimed Fox Business host Charles Payne raped her in 2013 and the network retaliated against her when she brought it to the notice of the management earlier this year.

Her civil lawsuit filed Monday in United States District Court in the Southern District of New York named Payne, 21st Century Fox and Fox News and listed the charges as gender motivated violence, gender discrimination, retaliation and defamation.

"On behalf of Scottie Nell Hughes, today we filed an action against Fox to hold it accountable for yet another case involving sexual harassment and retaliation inflicted by Fox executives in order to protect male, on-air talent," said attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and Jeanne M. Christensen, in a statement.

"We intend to aggressively litigate Ms. Hughes’s claims and hold Fox accountable to the fullest extent under the law." Wigdor already has numerous clients involved with legal actions against Fox News Channel, according to Variety.

Hughes complaint against Payne followed a string of sexual harassment allegations against other major players, including Bill O'Reilly and Eric Bolling, at sister network Fox News.

"My complaint speaks for itself," Hughes said in a statement. "What is most important to me is that justice will prevent other women from going through the nightmare I’m now living."

Payne returned to his show "Making Money," earlier this month after being off-air since his suspension on July 6, pending an internal investigation into the allegation against him by Hughes.

The investigation was completed before his return, a spokesperson for the network confirmed, CNN reported.

On Monday, Payne's attorney Jonathan Halpern, said his client would prevail against the "outrageous" charges.

He added that Payne "vehemently denies any wrongdoing and will defend himself vigorously against this baseless complaint. We are confident that when the evidence is presented in this case, Mr. Payne will be fully vindicated and these outrageous accusations against him will be confirmed as completely false."

Hughes' complaint alleged that in 2013, Payne Payne "pressured" himself into her hotel room and into having sexual intercourse with her despite her telling him "no" and to "stop."

The complaint states that Hughes was coerced into a sexual relationship with Payne for the next two years, and when she ended her relationship with the host in 2016 and tried to inform Fox News executives about the alleged harassment her role at the network decreased significantly.

"In July of 2013, I was raped by Charles Payne,” Hughes told the New York Times. “In July of 2017, I was raped again by Fox News. Since then, I have been living an absolute hell.”

Hughes’ lawsuit also claimed that the network and two of its executives, Dianne Brandi and Irena Briganti, were responsible for leaking the story that Payne and Hughes were involved in what has been described as a romantic affair. Both Payne and Hughes were married during their alleged affair.

Hughes spent the 2016 presidential campaign working at CNN, where she defended President Donald Trump before he won the election. She is currently the editor of Right Alerts, which bills itself as "Breaking News Without The Liberal Bias," and is known for writing essays on her own website.

She was the former news director of the Tea Party News Network. Her book "Roar: The New Conservative Woman Speaks Out" came out in 2014. Hughes left CNN after her contract expired in January.

Hughes' husband is Chris Hughes, a Tennessee Republican Party committeeman and an army veteran. The couple has two children, 10-year-old Houston and 9-year-old Alexandra Lynn, Heavy.com reported.

Fox News responded to Hughes' lawsuit Monday and took aim at the political commentator's credibility and that of her attorney.

"The latest publicity stunt of a lawsuit filed by Doug Wigdor has absolutely no merit and is downright shameful. We will vigorously defend this," the network said.

"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," the statement said, according to the New York Times.