Ed Henry's rape accuser Jennifer Eckhart arrested, accused of attacking her boyfriend
Eckhart, who recently settled a sexual assault lawsuit against former Fox News anchor Ed Henry, was booked by Florida's Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday on suspicion of battery.
The podcaster 'struck, screamed, and became combative' toward Thomas Beasley after he tried to end the relationship, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Daily Mail.
According to the Mail, the affidavit said Beasley caught the alleged altercation on film, which showed Eckhart 'yelling, striking Beasley, grabbing his shirt and ripping it, and demanding he delete the video.'
The 34-year-old was released on recognizance without having to post bail.
The Independent has contacted Eckhart for comment.
Eckhart is the host of the REINVITED podcast and runs a non-profit called The Reinvited Project, which aims to support trauma survivors through animal-assisted therapy.
On June 15, Eckhart settled her 2020 lawsuit against Henry, in which she accused him of rape. Henry, who was fired from Fox News in July 2020, denied the allegations. He now works for right-wing network NewsMax.
In the lawsuit, Eckhart alleged that the former Fox News anchor 'groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced' her into a sexual relationship while referring to her as his personal 'sex slave.'
Eventually, after she 'would not comply voluntarily' with his sexual demands, she claimed he violently raped her in 2017.
Fox News was initially a defendant in Eckhart's lawsuit, as she claimed the network downplayed the severity of the risk Henry posed to female employees and retaliated against her by firing her in June 2020 after she complained about a hostile work environment. Prior to the settlement, Fox News was dismissed as a defendant from the case.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams said there was 'no direct evidence that Fox News was aware of Henry's alleged harassment of Eckhart before it occurred.' Additionally, Abrams agreed with Fox's legal team that 'no reasonable jury' would find the network liable for preventing 'Henry from harming Eckhart.'
'This matter has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties, and the parties are moving on with their lives,' Henry's attorney said in a statement when the settlement was reached.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Group confronted suspect who stabbed 11 at a Michigan Walmart, video shows
Several passersby helped apprehend a knife-wielding suspect who stabbed 11 people at a Walmart in Michigan, video has revealed. Footage circulating on social media showed several citizens in Traverse City confronting a 42-year old man outside the supermarket on Saturday during the attack. Among the people confronting the suspect included an armed citizen who could be seen pointing his gun at the man. 'Throw it away!' some of the passerby could be heard yelling, with others saying: 'Put it down!' and 'Get on the fucking ground.' One passerby could be seen pushing a shopping cart towards the suspect. Moments later, law enforcement could be seen arriving on scene and arresting the man. Speaking to Channel2Now, Walmart employee Tasha Nash said: 'It was a guy with a knife – people were screaming and running in all directions … I saw someone stabbed in the eye.' Another shopper, Kathryn Ann Clark, told the outlet and her friend's son and another shopper helped confront the suspect. 'It was definitely a stabbing,' Clark said, adding: 'There were no shots fired, just brave people stepping in.' Eleven victims were treated at the nearby Munson Medical Center. On Sunday, the hospital said that there were 'encouraging signs of recovery' among the victims. According to the hospital, seven people are in fair condition and four are in serious condition. There are no longer any patients from the attack who are in critical condition, the hospital added. In a statement released on Sunday, the hospital said: 'Our dedicated team of physicians, surgeons, nurses, clinicians, and support staff remain focused on providing a healing environment for all those affected by this tragic incident … Additionally, we are working on providing additional emotional support for our employees in light of this incident. We extend our continued support to the victims and their families during this very difficult time.' Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, said that she was aware of the attack, writing on X: 'Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence. I am grateful to the first responders for their swift response to apprehend the suspect.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell coming clean on Epstein case would be ‘a great service to the country'
Speaker Mike Johnson called on Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to come clean and told Americans that he "hoped" she could be trusted as he faces the growing uproar around the White House's handling of the investigation. Johnson appeared Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, where moderator Kristen Welker asked him point-blank if the convicted sex-trafficker girlfriend of Epstein could be trusted to accurately testify about the crimes she and Epstein committed. Epstein was awaiting prosecution for sex trafficking underage girls after a previous conviction on similar charges when he died in federal custody. Maxwell has been thrust back into the spotlight as the MAGA base has grown frustrated with President Donald Trump and his administration's shutting down of the so-called Epstein files release. Last week, a top Department of Justice official met with Maxwell about the case. "Well, I mean, look; it's a good question. I hope so," Johnson told Welker in response. "I hope that she would want to come clean." "I hope she's telling the truth. She is convicted, she's serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking. Her character is in some if she wants to come clean now, that would be a great service to the country. We want to know every bit of information that she has." The House Oversight Committee voted this week to issue a subpoena for Maxwell after the Justice Department announced its own plans to speak with her. Agency officials did so for nine hours between Thursday and Friday, after making a statement seeming to confirm that her testimony hadn't been aggressively sought before. Some have called Maxwell to testify and suggested she should be given a pardon for sharing what she knows about the Epstein case. She was convicted of sexual abuse against minors and sex trafficking for helping Epstein carry out crimes. Johnson touted the Oversight subpoena favorably Sunday, casting it as evidence that GOP leadership supported efforts aimed at transparency. The Trump administration turned speculation about Epstein's death and the so-called 'Client List' of his co-conspirators into a raging wildfire in early July. The Justice Department and FBI published a joint memo explaining that future releases from the files would not take place, and that the list of Epstein's accomplices was not found. Epstein was rumored to have cultivated personal relationships with many powerful men and institutions. Critics of the president have alleged that a cover-up is in the works regarding the Epstein files. Democrats have hammered the president for his reversal, and a pair of scoops from the Wall Street Journal have reported on the president's connections to Epstein, to Trump's fury. The newspaper reported the contents of a message allegedly penned by Trump to Epstein as part of a 50th birthday celebration in 2003, including allusions to a shared 'secret' between them. Trump firmly denied authoring the note, and sued the Journal and its reporters in response. A second article from the Journal days later reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein investigation multiple times, thought it was not clear in what context. The White House called that story 'fake' and has repeatedly insinuated that Democrats including Joe Biden tampered with evidence while Trump was out of office. Being mentioned in the files does not mean wrongdoing, and hundreds of names are reportedly included. The lead GOP co-sponsor behind a House resolution that would force the Justice Department to release the entirety of its collected evidence related to Epstein said Sunday that his push was to help the convicted pedophile's victims and would only grow stronger in the coming weeks. Earlier on the same network, Rep. Thomas Massie appeared alongside the resolution's lead Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Ro Khanna, as the two promoted a resolution that would force Attorney General Pam Bondi to release 'all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials' related to the Epstein and Maxwell investigations. Massie told Welker that 'the release of the Epstein files is emblematic of what Trump ran for' and explained that the president's MAGA base expected results. 'There seems to be a class of people beyond the law, beyond the judicial all thought that when Trump was elected, he would be the bull in the china shop and break that all up,' said Massie. Massie went on to say that the Trump administration had lost his trust on the issue after publicly supporting transparency around the investigation, then doing an abrupt about-face. The administration is now calling on its supporters to move on from the issue and focus on hashing out issues with the 2016 'Russiagate' investigation instead of Epstein. Top administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, also spent months calling for the very releases the Justice Department says it won't authorize. 'People who were allegedly working on this weren't sincere in their efforts,' Massie said. 'Somebody should ask Speaker Mike Johnson, why did he recess Congress early so that he didn't have to deal with the Epstein issue?' 'Politics is the art of the doable. There's enough public pressure right now that we can get 218 votes and force this to a vote on the floor,' said Massie. He also firmly rejected a DOJ memo explaining the administration's position against further releases of information from the Epstein files, despite the very public promises of Bondi and others to do the opposite. In the memo, agency officials said that explicit imagery involving children was 'intertwined' throughout the files collected by the Justice Department. Some have said the files should not be released to protect sex-abuse victims of both Maxwell and Epstein. 'That's a straw man [argument],' Massie responded on Sunday, after Welker read part of the memo. 'Ro [Khanna] and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names would be redacted, and that no child pornography will be released.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
PETA sues Maine Lobster Festival saying the steaming of 16,000 live crustaceans is torture
Animal rights group PETA has filed a lawsuit against the Maine Lobster Festival, claiming the event organizers are torturing lobsters by steaming them to eat. The lawsuit, filed July 24 in Knox County Superior Court, claims the festival and the city of Rockland, where the event is held, are acting in violation of Maine law prohibiting the torture and torment of animals, the Penobscot Bay Pilot reported. PETA is asking the court to deem the festival a 'public nuisance' and ban organizers from steaming lobsters on public land, WMTW reported. PETA argues in the suit that the festival is 'one of the most egregious violations of Maine's animal protection statutes occurring anywhere on public land in the state: the systematic torture of approximately 16,000 live, sentient animals at the Maine Lobster Festival held annually at Harbor Park in Rockland, Maine.' The group's attorneys argued that PETA also filed the lawsuit on behalf of Rockland residents who lose access to walkways, public kayaking and canoeing, intertidal lands, and related civic spaces during the festival. "These individuals cannot access public trust resources without encountering and accepting intolerable conditions: the illegal public torture and killing of thousands of individual sentient lobsters via live steaming." In the suit, PETA argues that because lobsters are sentient beings, they are able to feel pain, and should be protected under Maine law, which requires any method used to kill a sentient creature must cause instantaneous death. PETA argues that the lobsters remain neurologically active and can feel the pain, suffering for several minutes when they are steamed. Meanwhile, event organizers say they're going by the books. An event organizer told WMTW they use 'traditional, lawful and widely accepted cooking methods' when steaming lobsters, and that there is no scientific evidence the crustaceans can feel pain. A hearing has not yet been scheduled for PETA's request for an injunction to stop the steaming of the lobsters. The annual event begins July 30, and runs through August 3.
