NEW YORK — A suspended Fox Business Network host says he will fight reported charges of sexual harassment "like a lion armed with truth."
Charles Payne, host of the network's Making Money show, defended himself on Twitter on Friday. The network didn't say why he was suspended. But the Los Angeles Times, citing two anonymous sources, reported that Payne had been accused of harassment by a female political analyst who appeared on the network.
Payne called the charges an ugly lie that he denies to his core. He said there is a mountain of proof that he's being falsely accused, in a Twitter post that includes the hashtag fightingback.
The suspension followed a National Enquirer story Wednesday in which the tabloid said Payne acknowledged a three-year extramarital affair with a female political analyst.
The Times reported Thursday that the woman contacted a law firm representing Fox to lodge a claim of sexual misconduct. She alleges she was blackballed from Fox after she ended the affair, the paper said.
Payne, a former Wall Street analyst, started working as a Fox Business Network contributor in 2007 and began hosting Making Money in 2014.