Fox News Anchor Joins Racial-Discrimination Lawsuit

Fox News anchor Kelly Wright has joined a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination and harassment at the cable-news network. Wright—who has been with the network since 2003, mostly anchoring Saturday’s America’s News HQ—alleged that he “has been effectively sidelined and asked to perform the role of a ‘Jim Crow’—the racist caricature of a black entertainer.” Additionally, he claimed he had been shunned from appearing on recently ousted prime-time star Bill O’Reilly’s show; and that Fox News co-president Bill Shine “has 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?’” He further alleged that when he tried to show a series of positive stories about the black community, he recalled being told “it showed blacks in ‘too positive’ a light.” Wright’s addition means the lawsuit now contains 13 racial minorities who are current or former Fox News employees alleging racial discrimination at the network. Fox News responded to the allegations with a statement: “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.”