Fox News anchor Kelly Wright has joined a lawsuit against the news organization, alleging racial discrimination and harassment by his employer, the Daily Beast reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, Wright is alleging that he “has been effectively sidelined and asked to perform the role of a ‘Jim Crow’—the racist caricature of a Black entertainer.”
Wright joined Fox News in 2003 and frequently anchored “America’s News HQ” on Saturdays.
{mosads}The Daily Beast reported that Wright took issue with Fox News co-president Bill Shine, who allegedly “demonstrated an obsession with race when it comes to discussions with Mr. Wright, including regularly asking him, ‘how do Black people react to you?’ and ‘how do you think White viewers look at you?’”
Wright further alleged that Fox News was critical of his attempt to cover positive stories about the black community, telling him that “it showed Blacks in ‘too positive’ a light.”
“FOX News and Dianne Brandi vehemently deny the race discrimination claims in both lawsuits. They are copycat complaints of the original one filed last month. We will vigorously defend these cases,” a Fox spokesperson said Tuesday night in a statement.
Wright’s allegations come amid a turbulent time for the news network as it tries to fend off accusations of racial discrimination by a dozen other current or former Fox News employees.
In July, Ailes was accused of sexual harassment by former host Gretchen Carlson. An internal investigation led by the law firm of Paul, Weiss resulted in Ailes’s abrupt departure two weeks later as more claims, including one by star Megyn Kelly, were revealed to investigators. Ailes had been with Fox News since its inception 20 years prior.
Updated 9:49 p.m.