Fox Business Network, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox Inc., has suspended host Charles Payne in the latest sexual-harassment controversy at Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment company.
Rotating sub-hosts will fill in for him on the show "Making Money" during Payne’s suspension, a Fox Business Network press official said. The Los Angeles Times reported earlier that Fox is investigating sexual harassment allegations made against him.
The suspension marks the latest controversy at a Fox network following the ouster of former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes last year, star host Bill O’Reilly in April and several other employees over allegations of sexual or racial harassment. Several days ago, Fox Sports executive Jamie Horowitz was fired over allegations of sexual harassment, a person familiar with the matter said then. The reported suspension of Payne at Fox Business would mean a third network was affected.
“We take issues of this nature extremely seriously and have a zero tolerance policy for any professional misconduct,” Fox Business said in a statement. “This matter is being thoroughly investigated and we are taking all the appropriate steps to reach a resolution in a timely manner.”
The claims come at a sensitive time for Fox’s co-chairman and billionaire Rupert Murdoch, who is seeking approval from the U.K. government for his bid to buy pay-TV broadcaster Sky Plc.
Jonathan N. Halpern, an attorney at Foley & Lardner LLP who is representing Payne, said the host “vehemently denies” the allegations. “He will defend himself vigorously against these claims and will hold those responsible to account,” he said by email.
In a key regulatory test for Fox’s bid for Sky last week, U.K. telecommunications watchdog Ofcom said that allegations of racial and sexual harassment at Fox News were “extremely serious and disturbing” and there was a “grave failure of corporate governance” at the channel.
Still, Ofcom ruled in Fox’s favor in the so-called fit-and-proper review and said it had no evidence that senior executives at the company were aware of the misconduct prior to July 2016, when the first lawsuit was brought against Ailes.
Any fresh evidence suggesting senior executives were in fact aware of the accusations and failed to act would be considered as part of the regulator’s ongoing duty to assess whether Sky would remain a fit and proper media owner under Fox, Ofcom said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.