Tucker Carlson producer accused of sexual assault throughout his time at Fox Information

Tucker Carlson’s longtime Fox Information producer and “right-hand man” is being sued for alleged sexual assault and harassment by a former worker on the community.

Justin Wells is accused of aggressively forcing himself on Andrew Delancey in 2008 earlier than retaliating when his advances have been rejected in a civil lawsuit filed on Monday underneath the New York Grownup Survivors Act.

Mr Wells, who was fired by Fox Information in April with Carlson and now works as an govt producer on his Tucker on X present, has denied the claims via his lawyer.

In response to the swimsuit, Mr Wells contacted the grievance over Fb in 2007 whereas he was working for a Fox station in Florida to say he had “caught [his] eye”, and inspired him to hunt a job within the New York bureau.

Mr Delancey was then employed as a producer for Fox Information Edge the place he often interacted with Mr Wells, who held a senior producer position for Greta Van Susteren’s present On the Document.

Mr Wells started “showering Mr Delancey with presents” inside one week of his arrival and would set duties for the junior staffer despite the fact that they didn’t work on the identical present.

Mr Delancey alleges he was invited by Mr Wells to workers drinks a couple of month after beginning at Fox, and so they organized to satisfy exterior his constructing.

Mr Wells then instructed they go as much as his house for a “pregame” cocktail, the place he pushed Mr Delancey onto his mattress and “violently compelled his tongue” down his colleague’s mouth, in line with the submitting.

Mr Wells allegedly tried to tear off Mr Delancey’s denims and repeatedly grabbed his genitals.

In a state of shock, Mr Delancey claims he shouted “no” and tried to purpose with Mr Wells by reminding him he had a boyfriend and so they have been as a consequence of meet Fox colleagues at a close-by homosexual bar, the Barracuda Lounge.

When Mr Wells supplied to point out him the view from a rooftop deck, Mr Delancey noticed it as an opportunity to flee, however was assaulted once more as the 2 males walked up a stairwell, the grievance states. He left the house shortly afterwards.

Mr Delancey claims that he instructed colleagues concerning the alleged sexual assault. He mentioned he was suggested by a supervisor to not report any issues of inappropriate conduct to Fox’s HR division.

His legal professionals state that Fox Information was infamous for permitting sexual harassment to “run rampant”, citing earlier instances towards former CEO Roger Ailes, and high-profile on-air personalities Invoice O’Reilly and Carlson.

Mr Delancey accused Mr Wells of assault and battery, and alleges that Fox Information was negligent for permitting the alleged sexual harassment to proceed.

In a press release to The Unbiased, Mr Wells’ lawyer Harmeet Dhillon described the lawsuit as “meritless” and mentioned her consumer “denies the allegations unequivocally and can contest them vigorously”.

Carlson mentioned in a press release he didn’t imagine the allegations have been credible.

“As a common matter, in the event you imagine you’ve been the sufferer of a intercourse crime, you’ve gotten an ethical obligation to alert police, so it doesn’t occur to another person,” he mentioned. “If you happen to wait 15 years to money in with a civil swimsuit, nobody ought to take you severely. I definitely don’t.”

Mr Delancey’s attorneys Filippatos PLLC instructed The Unbiased that Carlson’s assertion was a “traditional instance of the ways that individuals with energy and affect use to insulate themselves from accountability and silence victims”.

“Mr Carlson’s credibility on this — and another subject for that matter — now hovers at zero particularly since revelations surrounding the Dominion settlement and his termination by Fox Information have established a public document of Mr Carlson’s propensity to mislead his viewers.”

Fox Information didn’t reply to a request for remark.

In June, former Fox Information producer Abby Grossberg settled two harassment lawsuits towards the community and Carlson for $12m.

Mr Delancey’s lawsuit was filed shortly underneath the New York Grownup Survivors Act shortly earlier than a one-year window closed which eliminated the statute of limitations for sexual misconduct.