Fox News Quietly Paid Kimberly Guilfoyle Accuser Over Sexual Misconduct Claims: Report

Fox News reportedly agreed to quietly pay upward of $4 million to a woman who accused former network host Kimberly Guilfoyle of sexual harassment.

A young woman, who was one of Guilfoyle’s assistants at Fox News, sent company executives a 42-page confidential draft complaint in 2018 that accused Guilfoyle of repeated sexual harassment, according to a New Yorker article published Thursday.

Jane Mayer, who wrote the article, reported in March 2019 that Fox News secretly paid an undisclosed sum to the assistant, who no longer works at the network. Mayer now says that Fox agreed to pay the woman about $4 million to avoid going to trial over a lawsuit.

Fox News did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on The New Yorker report.

Guilfoyle was a prosecutor in Los Angeles and San Francisco before becoming co-host of the political talk show “The Five” on Fox News. The network forced her out mid-contract in July 2018, and she now serves as President Donald Trump’s campaign finance chair while dating Donald Trump Jr.

HuffPost first reported in 2018 that Guilfoyle’s departure from the network was not voluntary and that sources said she was terminated following an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior, such as sexual misconduct. Six sources said that Guilfoyle would show colleagues personal photographs of male genitalia (and identify whose genitals they were), regularly discussed sexual matters at work and would be emotionally abusive toward hair and makeup artists and support staff.

Guilfoyle has maintained that her decision to move from television news to a political campaign was voluntary and that the allegations about her behavior were false. She later threatened HuffPost and other media companies with potential legal action following reports about the sexual harassment claims.

Mayer’s article detailing the former assistant’s draft complaint corroborates HuffPost’s earlier reporting, including that the woman was frequently subjected to degrading, abusive and sexually inappropriate behaviors, such as being shown lewd photographs of men with whom Guilfoyle had sexual relations.

Other instances Mayer cites from the draft complaint are that the assistant was required to work at Guilfoyle’s New York apartment while the network host walked around naked, was forced to listen to Guilfoyle speak incessantly about her sex life, was ordered to give Guilfoyle a thigh massage and was told to submit to a Fox employee’s sexual demands.

The Trump surrogate declined to be interviewed by Mayer but told The New Yorker that she has “never engaged in any workplace misconduct of any kind.” The former assistant has not been publicly identified, and the draft complaint, which was never filed in court, is allegedly covered by a nondisclosure agreement.

Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.