Back in June, Fox Nation star and Fox News contributor Tyrus was reportedly booted from “Un-PC,” the show he co-hosted with Britt McHenry, after she filed a sexual harassment claim. These days, McHenry continues to host “Un-PC” while Tyrus has moved to his own new show on Fox Nation. The matter appeared, as Fox said, to have been “resolved.”
Until now, that is. HuffPost recently reported the source of McHenry’s complaint — lewd and shocking text messages that Tyrus allegedly sent to her — and now critics of the network are questioning why he is still employed by the streaming service.
Appalling text messages
HuffPost reporter Yashar Ali reported the contents of some of the text messages, citing “four sources familiar with their contents.” There is no question that the texts are appalling in their substance and connotation.
“Just pull your boobs out now why don’t you. Just grin and bare it,” Tyrus allegedly wrote, along with “keep being negative and I’ll send you another d—— pic.”
Fox News released a statement explaining the situation soon after a Daily Beast report detailing the claim was published. “While we are not at liberty to discuss the details of any employee matter, we follow strict protocols when matters such as these are brought to our attention, and we make no exceptions. The process works because of the extensive systems and measures we have instituted. This situation was independently investigated and we consider the matter resolved. We respect the confidentiality of all involved.”
McHenry initially seemed upset with the way that the network handled her sexual harassment claim. “You act like I don’t like have proof,” she tweeted June 12. “Smh [Shaking my head]. Carry on.” She also hired an attorney with a history of civil lawsuits targeting Fox News executives.
However, McHenry soon erased the contentious tweet and deactivated her Twitter account. She has since continued to regularly appear on her show “Un-PC.”
Future in doubt
However, Tyrus’s future with the streaming service is again being questioned in light of the HuffPost report. The digital communications, sent some time between November 2018 and January 2019, leave no question that McHenry was a victim of sexual harassment.
“I love the fact your always working if we ever had sex I feel like after an orgazzum you say speaking of feeling good did see the story on the puppy rescue we should do a segment on it hand me my phone,” the wrestling star wrote.
McHenry laughed off the exchange. “Hahahaha,” she responded. A few months ago, the Un-PC star began sharing the contents of the texts with friends and colleagues, asking for advice on how she should handle them. HuffPost says they spoke with some of these sources.
Business as usual
To make matters worse for McHenry, who came to Fox Nation from ESPN, where she was laid off in 2017 with about 100 other employees, the network has been advertising heavily for her former colleague, while her own show is all but ignored. Tyrus’ show has been plugged on Fox Nation’s official Instagram account at least three times in the past month, according to HuffPost. But the streamer has only promoted McHenry and Un-PC on its social media account once during the same period.
A source familiar with the inner workings of McHenry’s show explained that producers are waiting to find a permanent replacement for Tyrus before promoting the show. McHenry “does not have a permanent co-host for UN-PC at this time, so the team that runs the Instagram account is likely waiting until the show’s co-host is finalized before they push the show even more on social media. Tyrus has a brand new show with new assets,” a source told HuffPost.
Normally, Fox News employees who are subject to sexual harassment accusations are temporarily suspended until an investigation is completed. This has been the network’s policy since Rupert Murdoch pushed out Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes nearly three years ago, after the latter executive was accused of sexual misconduct. Harassment claims are now handled through the Fox Corporation, previously 21st Century Fox, rather than by officials from the news corporation.
It’s resolved, Fox says
Fox News responded Friday with a statement confirming their previous declaration that the matter has been “resolved” after an independent investigation.
Fox News releases statement following @yashar‘s story on @PlanetTyrus saying the network hired an outside law firm and “the recommendations we received were appropriate and promptly implemented” pic.twitter.com/xqour1R4Gf
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 12, 2019
McHenry and Tyrus have not commented on the most recent report. “Neither we nor Ms. McHenry are commenting at this time other than to say that Ms. McHenry looks forward to continuing to progress in her career at Fox,” her lawyers wrote.
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