HOBE SOUND, Florida – Jennifer Eckhart, a journalist and former Fox producer who once sued the network and its former news anchor Ed Henry for alleged sexual assault has been found dead at her home in Hobe Sound, Florida. She was 36.
The media personality was found dead by suicide on Saturday in her Martin County home, according Christine Christofek, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office. Her mother reportedly contacted law enforcement after discovering the body.
“TMZ has obtained the incident report from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, which says Eckhart’s mother contacted authorities after arriving at her daughter’s home Saturday and finding her dead inside the bathtub in the master bathroom,” TMZ reported Monday.
“The report says deputies found a folding pocketknife near Eckhart and observed serious injuries from lacerations. Crime scene investigators and the Medical Examiner’s Office were then called to the home.
“Deputies responded shortly before noon, and a Martin County Fire Rescue paramedic pronounced Eckhart dead at 11:57 a.m.”
Fox employed Eckhart from 2013 to 2020, and in 2020, the journalist sued both Fox and Henry for sexual assault and sexual harassment, including claims Henry, who is currently a Newsmax anchor, handcuffed and raped her, with subsequent allegations of retaliation by Fox.
🚨 Jennifer Eckhart, a former Fox Business producer and journalist, has died by suicide at just 36.
Jennifer worked at Fox from 2013 to 2020. In 2020, she filed a lawsuit accusing former Fox News anchor Ed Henry of sexual assault and sexual harassment, including an alleged 2017… pic.twitter.com/zmRJdeAbHh
— Gina Milan (@ginamilan_) September 21, 2026
Law & Crime reported in 2022: “The filing takes note of that alleged incident and aftermath:
After having extremely brief sexual intercourse, Defendant Henry told Ms. Eckhart how beautiful she was, said she belonged in front of the camera, and that she was “wasting her time” as a Production Assistant behind the scenes at Fox News. Instead, Defendant Henry offered to help advance Ms. Eckhart’s career, telling her that he could “get her in a room with some really powerful people.”
The message was clear: Ms. Eckhart would be rewarded for succumbing to Defendant Henry’s sexual advances as he would use his powerful position at Fox News to advance her journalism career. Alternatively, if she refused, she risked being punished (i.e., be fired from her job) …
Eckhart, who was 24 years old at the time, “cried herself to sleep” after coming home that night, the lawsuit says.
Additionally, the lawsuit says that Henry “later sexually assaulted her, physically forcing her to perform oral sex on him at Fox News’ New York headquarters,” and that he would go on to “violently” rape “Eckhart in February 2017, after which he sent her threatening messages boasting about the rape and how he physically injured her.”
In another passage, Eckhart accuses Henry of taking a page “out of the playbook of Roger Ailes, the former disgraced Chairman and CEO of Fox News” by handcuffing her, throwing her on his hotel bed, and taking “humiliating naked photographs of her on his iPhone as she laid naked, helpless, afraid and restrained.”
Henry was fired by Fox in the wake of an internal investigation.
“In 2020, (Eckhart) accused journalist Ed Henry of sexual assault. @edhenry was fired by @FoxNews that year following an investigation into a complaint involving alleged sexual misconduct.” https://t.co/ugiNQF7neH pic.twitter.com/r5QtMEqUmv
— Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) September 21, 2026
In the years that followed, Eckhart was vocal in discussing her personal trauma, including PTSD and a suicide attempt in 2020.
She launched her own podcast called “REINVENTED,” described on her website as a series “focused on inspirational tales of reinvention from some of the world’s most sought-after names in business, sports and entertainment who have overcome incredible obstacles and adversity on their journey to success.”
Her guests have included supermodel-entrepreneur Kathy Ireland, TV host Melissa Rivers, three-time Emmy award-winning actress Patricia Heaton, and former Fox News journalist Gretchen Carlson, who, in 2016, sued then-Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, claiming sexual harassment.
Eckhart’s last episode was in March, “weeks after a New York appeals court declined to entertain a follow-up filing from Eckhart that attempted to revive a dropped claim from the settled lawsuit – that Fox knew about Henry’s alleged behavior and failed to properly discipline him or protect her,” the Daily Mail reported.
In one interview, Eckhart admitted: “I have attempted suicide. I have been in intensive trauma therapy. I was diagnosed with complex post traumatic stress disorder that I still presently continue to navigate.”
“I could have easily become a statistic and I could have succumbed to addiction. It could have been very easy for me to fall down that rabbit hole and to use, which a lot of people do.
“But by the grace of God, I swear, walking into those church doors and just surrendering everything and knowing that I needed to, like, ground myself and get back to my faith was what made all the difference in the world. And I really believe it’s why I’m here today.”
WATCH:
Jennifer Eckhart, a former journalist and SA survivor, who bravely shares her story of resilience, advocacy, and healing.
Jennifer opens up about her early aspirations in journalism, her climb up the corporate ladder, and the challenges she faced in a male-dominated media… https://t.co/w4Cp7R8q8N pic.twitter.com/16txtLuv9N
— 7happy (@Sevenhappy007) September 21, 2026
The New York Post reports: “Eckhart was arrested in Palm Beach County, Fla., in July of last year on suspicion of battery after allegedly attacking her boyfriend when he tried to end their relationship, according to an arrest affidavit cited by the Daily Mail.
“The affidavit said video of the alleged altercation showed Eckhart yelling at Thomas Beasley, striking him, grabbing and ripping his shirt and demanding that he delete the recording.”
Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Jennifer previously served as a correspondent for ESPN Radio where she hosted the 2011 ESPN College Football Awards. She also served as an entertainment anchor for WUFT-TV, a PBS affiliate in Gainesville, Florida.
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