Tucker Carlson’s “right-hand man” accused of sexually assaulting another man

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s longtime producer has been accused of sexually assaulting a gay man in 2008 while they were both working for Fox News.

On Monday, former Fox News employee Andrew Delancey filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Justin Wells, Fox Corporation, and Fox News, alleging that Wells used his position at the conservative media company to sexually harass and later assault him.

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Justin Wells has been with Carlson as his executive producer since the beginning.

Wells helped launch Carlson’s Fox News show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, in 2016 and remained the show’s executive producer until both he and Carlson were fired in April. Wells continues to work with Carlson on the host’s show on X, and Delancey’s lawsuit describes him as Carlson’s “right hand man.”

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According to the lawsuit, Wells initially contacted Delancey through a Fox employee Facebook group in August 2007 while Delancey was working for a local Fox affiliate in Florida. Wells allegedly touted his connections within the company, “persuading [Delancey] to move to New York” in 2008. After Delancey accepted a job with Fox News Edge in September 2008, Wells allegedly showered him with gifts of personally monogrammed Fox News Edge merchandise.

At the time, Wells was a Field Producer on Greta Van Susteren’s show On the Record. The lawsuit notes that while Wells and Delancey did not work directly with each other, Wells held the senior position at the company and Delancey “was required to complete tasks at the direction of Wells.” Wells allegedly consistently reminded Delancey of his higher status and connections while offering to help him “learn the ropes” and advance his career.

According to Delancey’s suit, within a month of arriving in New York, Wells invited him out for drinks at Manhattan gay bar Barracuda Lounge, luring him up to Wells’s apartment for a drink beforehand. “Before Mr. Delancey could finish half of his drink, out of nowhere, Wells aggressively pushed Mr. Delancey onto his bed where he violently forced his tongue into Mr. Delancey’s mouth,” the suit states. “Defendant Wells quickly began unbuttoning and trying to rip off Mr. Delancey’s jeans as the sexual assault progressed. Simultaneously, Wells aggressively grabbed Mr. Delancey’s genitals causing him severe pain.”

“Mr. Delancey was in complete shock. He yelled out, ‘no!’ and mustered up the strength to physically slow down Defendant Wells’s physical attack,” the suit alleges.

Wells then allegedly convinced Delancey to accompany him to his building’s roof, assaulting him again in the building’s stairwell. “Wells reached around Mr. Delancey and stuck his hands down the front of Mr. Delancey’s pants while again trying to unbutton Mr. Delancey’s jeans,” the suit states.

After Delancey pulled away and pleaded with Wells to stop, Wells was “clearly annoyed” and canceled their plans to go to the bar.

Delancey alleges that after telling coworkers about the assault, he was informed that Wells had previously been accused of sexual harassment by a female Fox employee, but the company took no action against Wells. Delancey also alleges that his direct supervisor, Mykel McCarthy, who is gay, “fostered a workplace environment rife with inappropriate behavior” and even told Delancey not to inform management of inappropriate behavior and not to go to the company’s Human Resources department with complaints.

The lawsuit also notes that Fox News has become notorious for its “sexual harassment culture” and that prominent figures like former CEO and Chairman Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, and Carlson himself have all faced accusations of sexual harassment and, in some cases, assault while working for the company.

Delancey alleges that after refusing Wells’s advances, Wells insinuated that he “would hinder Mr. Delancey’s career advancement.” Delancey later returned to his position at the Fox affiliate in Tampa and now lives in Ohio.  

According to Variety, Delancey’s attorneys initially filed a summons in New York state court on November 22 under the state’s Adult Survivors Act, which created a one-year window allowing victims to bring sexual assault complaints that would have otherwise not fallen under the statute of limitations.

Both Wells’s attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, and Carlson attempted to cast doubt on Delancey’s allegations.

“This meritless legal action was filed 15 years after the alleged incident and mere days before the extended statute of limitations would have run,” Dhillon said in a statement. “Mr. Wells denies the allegations unequivocally, and will contest them vigorously. This is yet another attempt by a law firm with a history of suing Fox and its former employees to cash in on frivolous allegations.”

“As a general matter, if you believe you’ve been the victim of a sex crime, you have a moral obligation to alert police, so it doesn’t happen to someone else,” Carlson said in a statement. “If you wait 15 years to cash in with a civil suit, no one should take you seriously. I certainly don’t.”

Contrary to Carlson’s statement, victims of sexual assault and harassment frequently remain silent due to trauma, shame, or fear of retaliation from their abusers.