Lawsuit Against Top Newsmax Host ‘Unravels’ After Stunning Texts Are Revealed

Allegations of rape in a suit against a Newsmax host became muddied on Tuesday after the personality’s lawyer produced a stunning series of text messages suggesting the sex was consensual.

Ed Henry, who was hired last year by the network, has been embroiled in a four-year lawsuit by a former Fox Business associate producer alleging he handcuffed and raped her during a 2017 sexual encounter. The suit was brought by Jennifer Eckhart, who was 26 at the time, and contributed to Henry’s firing from Fox News amid the network’s reckoning over sexual harassment. However, new filings show a string of racy messages Eckhart sent to Henry that taint the allegations.

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The Gateway Pundit reported on Eckhart’s 2017 texts including ones where she admits to being “weak and submissive” and fantasizes about being “slapped around.” Notably, the messages were sent just days after Eckhart claimed to have been raped by Henry, suggesting the “highly provocative sexting” was indicative of a consensual arrangement that also involved a belt and handcuffs. Elsewhere, Henry’s attorneys state Eckhart “sent Ed a photograph of a belt” and wrote demanding that he “always obey and make myself available to u.” Another message in the series read, “You NEED my 26-year-old p***y.”

Eckhart, now 34, has long alleged Henry groomed and manipulated her before the encounter. But further evidence introduced on Tuesday may damage the case beyond repair. Days after the alleged rape, Eckhart wrote back “You wanna f*** me,” “Come spread them and slide my bikini off’,” “F***ing dirty boy. I love it,” and “Want it. Badly,” according to the Daily Mail. The filing also describes 15 sexually-charged photos sent by Eckhart, including at least five of other women. Henry’s attorneys contend that Eckhart’s filings have taken messages out of context when, in fact, the relationship with Henry was consensual.

“Many of these messages, including most of the ones Jennifer thinks are incriminating, have been cut off to obscure a final comment by Jennifer expressing pleasure, agreement or desire,” the filing reads. Ten days after they met, it goes on, Eckhart sent Henry “a photograph of herself in black lingerie with the tips of the two middle fingers of her left hand inserted into her panties” and “a photograph of her own fully exposed, slightly parted vagina lathered in soap.”

“Ed and Jennifer also continued sexting in the weeks after and months after the alleged rape, with frequent references to rough, consensual sex, with Jennifer often initiating,” the document states.

Henry, 53, had been a fixture at the Fox News Channel since 2011 before being fired in June 2020, a widely publicized move which the network attributed to “willful sexual misconduct in the workplace.” “Ed was suspended the same day and removed from his on-air responsibilities pending investigation. Based on investigative findings, Ed has been terminated,” Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace said in a statement at the time. Henry had briefly left the network in 2016 amid rumors of an extramarital affair, according to Variety. He was one of several high-profile men, including Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, to leave the network on bad terms following the #MeToo movement of 2017.

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