ICM Investigates Claim That Agents Discouraged Fox News Talent From Reporting Sexual Assault

Daniel Holloway

ICM has hired outside counsel to investigate a claim that its agents discouraged a Fox News contributor from reporting alleged an sexual assault at the network.

Fox News contributor Tamara Holder told the Huffington Post Tuesday that ICM agents discouraged her from reporting Francisco Cortes, vice president of Fox News Latino, after an incident in which he was alleged to have attempted to force Holder to perform oral sex on him. Holder was represented at the time by Steve Levine, Matt Sorger, and Will Horwitz.

“ICM Partners has a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment,” the agency said in a statement. “We will thoroughly investigate this inquiry.”

According to a report in the New York Times, Holder, after reporting the alleged assault, reached a settlement in February with Fox News for $2.5 million. The settlement followed the departure last year of former Fox News chief Roger Ailes over multiple sexual assault allegations, and the dismissal last month of top host Bill O’Reilly over similar claims. According to the Times, Fox News and O’Reilly paid a combined $13 million to settle harassment allegations against the host.

On Monday, Fox News fired co-president Bill Shine as the network fends off multiple lawsuits alleging racial and sexual discrimination at the cable news channel.

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