Podcaster and mental health activist Jennifer Eckhart, who sued ex-Fox News anchor Ed Henry for sexual assault in 2020, died by suicide on Saturday, according to authorities.
Eckhart was found in her Florida home on Saturday morning, according to an incident report issued by Martin County Sheriff’s Office, People reported. Her mother discovered her body inside a bathtub with a knife nearby, according to TMZ.
“This death has been ruled a suicide,” Christine Christofek, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said in a statement to People.
Eckhart worked as an associate producer on Fox News Media’s Fox Business Network from 2013 to 2020. She sued Henry for sexual assault in 2020, and Fox News was named in the suit, accused of failing to take action against Henry for harassing women. The news division was later removed from the suit in March 2025.
“Fox News can … be held liable for Henry’s actions only if its management or supervisors knew or should have known about that purported misconduct yet failed to prevent Henry from harming Eckhart,” Judge Ronnie Abrams said in her March 2025 ruling. “On this record, the Court agrees that no reasonable jury could make that finding.”
Eckhart revealed that her lawyers were appealing Abrams’ decision in an October 2025 Instagram post.
“This case was never just about me,” she wrote. “It has always been about accountability and forcing corporations to answer for the cultures of abuse they protect, enable, and excuse behind power, money, and silence. For more than five years, my former employer Fox News has spent millions resisting accountability in my [rape] lawsuit. But what’s at stake is far bigger than me, one woman, one man or one company.”
The appellate court upheld Abrams’ decision, Eckhart’s lawyer Michael J. Willemin, a partner at Wigdor law firm, said.
“We were deeply saddened to learn of Ms. Eckhart’s passing, and our thoughts are with her family at this time,” Willemin told The Times.
Eckhart filed the harassment complaint against Henry after Fox News fired her in 2020. Following a subsequent sexual misconduct investigation, Fox News fired Henry that same year. The anchor, who now works at Newsmax, had previously taken time off in 2016 after a woman who claimed they had been having an affair while he was married released embarrassing correspondence between them, per People.
Suicide prevention and crisis counseling resources
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, seek help from a professional or call 988. The nationwide three-digit mental health crisis hotline will connect callers with trained mental health counselors. Or text “HOME” to 741741 in the U.S. and Canada to reach the Crisis Text Line.
Born in Miami, Eckhart graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor of science degree in telecommunications-news, according to her biography. She previously served as an ESPN Radio correspondent and an anchor for Gainesville, Fla., PBS affiliate WUFT-TV. In addition to her news and podcast experience, Eckhart also founded the Reinvented Project, which provided “support for trauma survivors through animal-assisted healing.”
Despite adversity, Eckhart was determined in her October 2025 post.
“I know the risks of speaking when silence would have been the safer, easier option. But I also know this: regardless of the outcome, history will not remember me as a woman who kept her mouth shut,” she wrote. “And I am completely at peace with that.”
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