Charles Payne, a host on Fox Business Network, has been suspended while the network conducts a sexual harassment investigation of him. The Los Angeles Times first reported the news that Fox then confirmed.
“We take issues of this nature extremely seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy for any professional misconduct,” the network said following the end of Wednesday’s broadcast of Payne’s Making Money.
“This matter is being thoroughly investigated and we are taking all of the appropriate steps to reach a resolution in a timely manner.”
The Times also reported that Payne acknowledged an affair to the National Enquirer and apologized to his family. Payne’s statement was not available on the Enquirer’s website, however.
The Los Angeles Times did not identify the female accuser “because she alleges that she was coerced into a sexual relationship with Payne under threat of reprisals.” However, Yashar Ali reported the accuser’s identity in an article for HuffPost.
Payne has been with Fox Business since the network’s inception. He has hosted Making Money since 2014 and frequently appears on that network and sister channel Fox News.
FBN’s parent company 21st Century Fox has been reeling as a result of numerous sexual harassment allegations. Fox News’s Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly both left the network as a result of sexual harassment and co-president Bill Shine left the network earlier this year as part of the fallout. Fox Sports’s Jamie Horowitz was fired earlier this week while under investigation for sexual harassment.