Debbie Schlussel now says Hannity never sexually harassed her, considering countersuit
As we reported earlier today, the New York Daily News said that former Fox News guest Debbie Schlussel claimed that Fox News talk show host Sean Hannity sexually harassed her, repeatedly inviting her to his hotel room and was eventually ostracized. Hannity fired back, threatening to take legal action against her. Now, Schlussel says Hannity never harassed her, further saying that she would “never” accuse him of harassing her.
According to LawNewz, Schlussel said Monday that she “is denying that she was ever sexually harassed by Sean Hannity. While Schlussel stands by her description of the incident, Schlussel told us that she doesn’t believe what happened between the two amounted to sexual harassment by any legal definition.”
“I would never accuse him of that. Sexual harassment has a special meaning under the law, and I would never accuse him of that,” she reportedly said.
LawNewz added:
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“He tried to get me to go back to the hotel after the show after he and his executive producer Bill Shine treated me horribly,” she said on the radio program. Schlussel later clarified that it wasn’t his hotel room, but rather his hotel. She told LawNewz.com that she did go on the show following the incident, but after that was “banned from Fox News.”
“I never thought I was sexually harassed by Sean Hannity, I thought he was weird and creepy not someone I liked,” Schlussel said.
Following the radio interview on Friday, Hannity issued a strongly worded statement denying Schlussel’s claims saying he plans to take legal action against Schlussel for possible libel.
In a statement to the Daily News, Hannity said:
“LET ME BE CLEAR THE COMMENTS ABOUT ME ON A RADIO SHOW THIS WEEK by this individual ARE 100% false and a complete fabrication. This individual is a serial harasser who has been lying about me for well over a decade. The individual has a history of making provably false statements against me in an effort to slander, smear and besmirch my reputation,” he said.
“The individual has not just slandered me over the years but many people who this individual disagrees with. This individual desperately seeks attention by any means necessary, including making unfounded personal attacks and using indefensible and outrageous political rhetoric.”
“My patience with this individual is over. I have retained a team of some of the finest and toughest lawyers in the country who are now in the process of laying out the legal course of action we will be taking against this individual.”
She wasn’t finished, calling Hannity’s legal threats “laughable” and threatened to take action of her own.
“It’s defamatory,” she said, “Everything I said was true, and truth is an absolute bar to defamation. He on the other hand has a murky record on truth.”
Noting that Schlussel has something of a reputation for sensational statements on her blog, Rachel Stockman said:
The accuser has a history of making allegations against Hannity. Back in 2010, Schlussel, who Gawker claimed at the time was a “crazy birther blogger,” wrote a blog post claiming that the “Freedom Alliance,” a war veteran charity, which is supported by Hannity, was skimming donations, and was all a “huge scam.”
According to a 2010 letter obtained by LawNewz.com, Thomas Kilgannon, the charity’s founder and president, fired back in a note to donors: “the blog posting accuses our friend Sean Hannity of personally benefiting from Freedom Alliance. This is FALSE. Freedom Alliance has never provided planes, hotels, cars, limos, or anything else to Sean. Sean gets nothing from Freedom Alliance except our gratitude for his personal generosity and for all he has done to help the troops and our organization.” Hannity has reportedly donated more than a million dollars to the charity over the last several years.
Hannity responded on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/856501914867036160
The Detroit Free Press noted:
“He got mad at me that I was briefly a redhead when I wasn’t blonde,” Schlussel said. “He was arguing with me about my pants size, … I said they were size 2, and he said, no, they were a 4.”
You can hear her initial statement here.
Something tells me this story isn’t quite finished…
Related:
- Sean Hannity threatens legal action after allegations of sexual harassment by former contributor Debbie Schlussel
- Sources: Fox execs say Bill O’Reilly must go
- Ted Koppel to Sean Hannity: You’re bad for America
- Juan Williams slams CNN for fake news report that Sean Hannity pulled a gun on him
- Chaz Bono called ‘dumber than dirt’ by Sean Hannity after claim Trump supporters traitors, fascists
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