MRC Stays Mum On Sexual Improprieties By Another Fox Host

The Washington Post recently told the story of Scottie Nell Hughes, a once-prominent pro-Trump talking head whose career ground to a halt after she accused Fox Business anchor Charles Payne of coercing her into a sexual relationship with him. Hughes explained how she has been blackballed within the conservative media world and how difficult it is for a conservative woman to make allegations of sexual harassment within it:

Hughes told me that she’s found out the hard way that conservative women have a particularly hard time making sexual harassment and assault claims. Those claims often are scoffed at on the right, she said, and retaliation can be swift and brutal.

“Name me another conservative woman who has charged a male on the same side of the aisle with sexual misconduct outside of those involved with Fox,” she said.

The absence speaks volumes, she said: “Victims have been shamed into silence and it’s almost like open hunting season for sexual predators on the right.”

Almost every day, she said, she hears from women in conservative political and media circles. She gave examples of what they’ve told her: “My career would be over.” “I’m thinking I should speak up against certain people but it would ruin me.” “I internalized it for years. And hid behind work.”

Count the Media Research Center among those right-wing media outlets who have apparently declared Hughes to be persona non grata. Her last mention at NewsBusters, the MRC’s main content site, came in December 2016, well before she made her accusations against Payne.

Not only has the MRC not mentioned the claims against Payne — continuing a double standard in which it largely ignores sexual harassment by Fox News hosts and personnel while obsessing over non-conservatives who have been accused — the last two mentions of Payne in the NewsBusters archive are of MRC chief Brent Bozell appearing on Fox Business shows hosted by Payne, the final appearance coming just two days before Payne was suspended (he was reinstated two months later, though Hughes has now accused Payne of rape).

Again, we see that the MRC won’t dare tell the truth about Fox News or Fox Business and it culture of sexual harassment, lest it possibly lose access to its highest-profile media outlet.