Ex-Fox News reporter says Trump told her she was ‘the hottest one’ at the network and then asked her to come to his office so they could kiss even though they were both married
- Courtney Friel, 39, wrote in her new memoir that she had expressed to Donald Trump an interest in being a judge for the Miss USA beauty pageant
- He allegedly called her and told her she was ‘the hottest one at Fox News’
- Friel claims Trump invited her to his office to kiss him, but she rebuffed him, noting they were both married
- She didn’t specify when the event occurred, but she worked at Fox News from 2007 to 2013
- Friel was married to fellow reporter Carter Evans from 2005 to 2013, and Trump is still married to now first lady Melania Trump
Former Fox News reporter Courtney Friel says Donald Trump, before he was elected president, asked her to kiss him while they were both married.
Friel discussed the incident in her upcoming book Tonight At 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News, an excerpt of which was obtained by the New York Daily News.
The 39-year-old didn’t specify when the alleged proposition occurred, but it would have likely taken place between 2007 and 2013, the years during which she worked at Fox News.
Courtney Friel, 39 (left), wrote in her new memoir that she had expressed to Donald Trump (right), before he became president, an interest in being a judge for the Miss USA beauty pageant. He allegedly called her and told her she was ‘the hottest one at Fox News’
Friel claims Trump invited her to his office to kiss him, but she rebuffed him, noting they were both married. Pictured: Friel, left, and her then-husband Chris Evans at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 64th Los Angeles Area Emmy Awarda, August 2012
Friel said she had expressed an interest in being a judge for the Miss USA beauty pageant, which was owned by Trump from 1996 until 2015 and used to air on NBC.
The real estate mogul allegedly called her office line and told she was ‘the hottest one at Fox News.’
‘Though he said I couldn’t be a judge since I worked at a different network, he did ask me about my career goals and complimented my work at FNC,’ Friel wrote in her memoir, according to the Daily News.
‘Then, out of nowhere, he said: “You should come up to my office sometime, so we can kiss.”‘
Friel said she was appalled by his request.
‘”Donald,” I responded, “I believe we’re both married.” I quickly ended the call,’ she wrote.
‘This proposition made it difficult for me to report with a straight face on Trump running for president. It infuriated me that he would call all the women who shared stories of his bold advances liars. I totally believe them,’ she states in the book.
She cheekily added: ‘At least now I can joke that I could have banged the President – but I passed.’
Friel worked at Fox News for six years, both in their New York bureau and their Los Angeles bureau, sometimes as a fill-in host on the morning show Fox & Friends.
She joined Los Angeles station KTLA in 2013, according to her bio on the station’s website.
Friel didn’t specify when the event occurred, but she worked at Fox News from 2007 to 2013. Pictured: Friel and her two children attend the Cayton Children’s Museum in California, April 2018
At the time of the alleged incident, Friel was married to fellow reporter Carter Evans from 2005 to 2013, and Trump is still married to now first lady Melania Trump. Pictured: Trump, left, and Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on New Year’s Eve 2019
Friel was married to CBS News Los Angeles reporter Carter Evans, with whom she shares two children, from 2005 to 2016.
Evans subsequently married Friel’s KTLA colleague Lauren Lyster.
During the time of the alleged incident, Trump would have been married to now first lady Melania Trump.
The news anchor is not the only woman to have accused of sexual misconduct. At least 25 women have reported their own allegations dating back to the 1970s.
Trump and the The White House have denied all claims.