A defamation suit filed against CNN and NPR brought on by former Fox News anchor Ed Henry has been voluntarily dismissed. The lawsuit, filed last summer, was “dismissed with prejudice” by the Southern District of New York court.
In that lawsuit, Henry specifically singled out CNN’s chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, CNN Newsroom co-anchor Alisyn Camerota and NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik.
Camerota and Henry, it should be noted, were at one point working together at Fox News.
Henry’s complaint detailed an appearance in July of 2020 by Stelter on CNN’s New Day, which Camerota co-hosted at that time, where he analyzed a report by Folkenflik. In that report, Folkenflik talked about how Fox News executives were warned, in 2017, that giving Henry hosting roles would damage reform efforts after harassment scandals there.
The complaint adds: “Mr. Stelter was relying on Mr. Folkenflik’s false report about an internal complaint and Mr. Stelter recklessly republished Mr. Folkenflik’s allegation without confirming its authenticity. Likewise, they should have known that they could not haphazardly repeat the unproven allegations of another journalist, i.e., Mr. Folkenflik. Because of their animosity, however, Ms. Camerota and Mr. Stelter smeared Mr. Henry in order to impugn Fox News.”
Folkenflik, in response to the dismissal of the suit, said that “we have not stepped away from a syllable of our report” and that “the story stands.”
Fox News fired Henry in July 2020 for “willful sexual misconduct in the workplace.” He has denied the allegations of sexual misconduct and has also filed a defamation lawsuit against the network and its CEO Suzanne Scott. Fox News has denied the allegations Henry made in his suit (click here to read the network’s responses that were issued in June 2021).
Henry, who at one point also worked for CNN as a senior White House correspondent, can now be seen on a cable news outlet named Real America’s Voice.