Who Is Justin Wells? Tucker Carlson Producer Accused of Groping

A former Fox News staffer is accusing Tucker Carlson‘s former top producer, Justin Wells, of sexual assault and harassment, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan court on Monday.

The lawsuit filed by former Fox News Edge producer Andrew Delancey, which was first reported on by The Washington Post, claims that Wells repeatedly grabbed Delancey’s genitals while the staffer was visiting his apartment in 2008. Wells previously worked as the senior executive producer for Carlson’s talk show on Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, before the show was canceled in April.

Wells has previously been described as Carlson’s “right-hand man,” and was fired from Fox News this spring after Carlson’s prime-time show was nixed. At the time of the alleged encounter with Delancey, according to the lawsuit, Wells was working as a senior producer for the Fox News show On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.

What the Lawsuit Says

According to the lawsuit, which was shared with Newsweek by Delancey’s attorneys, Wells first contacted Delancey through Facebook Messenger in August 2007, during which time Delancey was a producer at Fox 13 in Tampa Bay. Wells, on the other hand, was working as a producer for Fox 5 in New York City.

In a later exchange in February 2008, Wells reportedly encouraged Delancey to move to New York City, after which point Delancey shared his resume with Wells. The staffer eventually moved to the city in September 2008 after accepting a producer position on the Fox News Edge team.

During Delancey’s first few weeks at Fox News, Wells reportedly showered the lesser-senior staffer “with gifts,” and repeatedly “stressed” that his status at Fox News could help Delancey move up in his career. Eventually, Delancey was invited over to Well’s apartment “so that they could become more familiar with each other,” read the lawsuit.

The suit claims that, after offering Delancey an alcoholic drink, Wells “violently forced” himself onto the staffer, including attempting to take off Delancey’s clothes and “aggressively” grabbing at his genitals, “causing him severe pain.” The lawsuit reads that Delancey rejected Wells’ advances on two different occasions before leaving the apartment.

Delancey’s legal team also writes that the staffer went to a…