Suspended Fox Business host Charles Payne calls sexual harassment claims 'an ugly lie' as analyst Scottie Nell Hughes alleges he 'COERCED her into three-year affair'
- Payne, who hosts Making Money, was accused of sexual misconduct by Hughes
- Hughes alleges Payne coerced her into a relationship with threats of reprisals
- They reportedly had a three-year affair after which she was dropped by Fox
- Married Payne has apologized for the affair with Hughes, also married
- But he denounced her claims on Twitter as 'an ugly lie' that he intends to fight
- Hughes says Fox had it in for her because she reported affair to their lawyers
- But sources say Payne's wife saw them flirting at his birthday and told Bill Shine
- Shine, then head of programming, dropped the Trump supporter, sources said
By
James Wilkinson and
Hannah Parry For Dailymail.com
PUBLISHED: 09:40 EDT, 7 July 2017 | UPDATED: 16:22 EDT, 7 July 2017
Charles Payne, host of Fox Business's Making Money, has lashed out at former contributor Scottie Nell Hughes for accusing him of sexual harassment.
Payne, who was suspended when the one-time
CNN and Fox pundit alleged that he had coerced her into a three-year affair, dismissed her on
Twitter.
He said that he had been approached for a quote about the allegations last week by an unnamed reporter who then didn't use his comment.
Payne tweeted that he told the reporter: 'That is an ugly lie I vehemently deny to my core. There is a mountain of proof that also proves its a lie.'
Making Money host Charles Payne (left) has been suspended after an allegation of sexual harassment made by married analyst Scottie Nell Hughes (right), who had an affair with him
The Fox Business host (pictured with his wife) a married father, as admitted to the affair, but denies claims that he coerced Hughes into the relationship with threats of reprisals
The Fox host also said he 'will fight this like a lion armed with truth. Thanks so much to all those that have reached out in support. #FightingBack.'
This week it emerged that Payne, who has a wife, had been accused of having a three-year affair with the married political analyst.
On Wednesday Payne admitted to the affair and apologized to his family. However, he denied the claims made against him by Hughes that he had threatened her with 'reprisals' if she didn't have an affair with him.
Their relationship was well-known within Fox News circles, ten sources told
the Huffington Post.
On Friday Payne made a series of tweets in which he refuted the claims made by Hughes
He claimed they were an 'ugly lie' and said he had a 'mountain of proof' to back him up
He promised to 'fight this like a lion armed with the truth'
Hughes is best known for her pro-Trump appearances on CNN during last year, when she made a string of gaffes, including referring to Molotov cocktails as 'Mazel Tov cocktails'.
But she also worked as an unpaid guest commentator on Fox from 2013-2016 - during which time she struck up an affair with the married father, according to the
Los Angeles Times.
Hughes and her husband, Chris (both pictured), have two children. She reportedly hoped her relationship with Payne would get her a permanent place on Fox
They barely hid their illicit encounters, apparently sharing a hotel room at a May 2015 company trip to the Money Show in Las Vegas, sources told The Huffington Post.
Payne, who was hosting Making Money With Charles Payne at the event, disappeared with Hughes for 'hours' at one point, the sources claimed.
And Hughes, who is also married, attended Payne's birthday party at his home in 2015, where the pair's behavior reportedly made Payne's wife uncomfortable.
Hughes now claims that she was coerced into the relationship with threats of reprisals.
But she also told her lawyer that she had stayed in the relationship because she thought he would help her land a permanent position at the network, sources told the Times.
Hughes tried to talk about the situation with former head of programming Bill Shine, who left Fox News this May - but to no avail, her lawyer says.
She eventually reported the affair to Fox's law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, when it ended in 2015, telling them of the threats she had allegedly received.
She says that led to her being blackballed from the show.
Sources say Hughest (not pictured) was blackballed after Payne's (center) wife saw them together at his birthday party and told ex-Fox exec Bill Shine of her concerns
But according to the Huffintgon Post, the channel stopped bringing her in after Payne's wife - upset by the pair's behavior at his birthday party - told Shine.
He then barred her from appearing on Fox News or Fox Business, multiple insiders said, despite her vehement support for Trump making her an ideal fit for the channels.
Hughes' lawyer is now preparing a legal complaint against Fox News and Payne.
Payne, a married father, acknowledged to the extramarital affair on Wednesday.
'I would like to extend an apology to my family and friends for having been involved in a romantic affair that ended two years ago,' he said in a statement to the National Enquirer.
However, Payne's s lawyer told the Los Angeles Times that his client 'categorically denies' any acts of sexual harassment against Hughes.
A spokesman for the channel said that the company takes 'issues of this nature extremely seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy for any professional misconduct.'
He added: 'This matter is being thoroughly investigated and we are taking all of the appropriate steps to reach a resolution in a timely manner.'
As well as departing Fox, Hughes was dropped from CNN in part due to her on-air slips.
Hughes claims Fox stopped hiring her not because of Payne's wife's complaints, but because of a vendetta after she reported the affair and alleged harassment to their lawyers
She is now national spokesman for the pro-Trump PAC The Committee To Defend The President.
The accusations are the latest in a series of allegations of sexual misconduct at Fox.
Popular right-wing host Billy O’Reilly found out he was fired from the network in April, while on vacation in Italy, after an African-American woman accused him of sexual harassment.
She said he would call her 'hot chocolate' when he walked by during the day, and would grunt at her 'like a wild boar'.
O'Reilly denies all the claims against him.
Ex-Fox News Latino Vice President Francisco Cortes and 21st Century Fox settled sexual assault allegations against him by political commentator, Tamara Holder.
But the biggest departure came last year when former boss Roger Ailes was forced to resign amid a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations.
He left Fox with a $60 million payout.
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What is going on at FOX News? He's gotta be like at least the 5th or 6th person to be accused of sex harassment in the last couple years.
