Jennifer Eckhart Faced Defamation Lawsuit Over Sex Trafficking Claims When She Died

Jennifer Eckhart was fighting a $1 million defamation lawsuit when she died ... filed by a Florida couple who claimed she falsely linked them and their business to sex trafficking.

Court docs obtained by TMZ show a woman named Darby Annunziata, her husband John, and their lash salon, Sugar Pie Lashes, sued the former Fox News producer in February ... about 7 months before she died by suicide in her Florida home.

According to the complaint, Jennifer allegedly walked into a nearby boutique and warned people not to do business with the salon, claiming Darby "doesn't really support women at all, especially single hard-working mothers working sex trafficking."

The couple says the wording painted Darby as having a hand in sex trafficking. They claim Jennifer then took another swipe, accusing Darby and John of belonging to a "swinger pineapple community" and calling it "a whole thing."

Jennifer denied accusing anyone of a crime ... saying she was criticizing Darby's treatment of a former employee who had been fired.

She argued the alleged remarks were opinion or rhetorical hyperbole ... and claimed a recording of the conversation cut off before she finished explaining herself.

Jennifer asked the court to dismiss the case, and her May filing said discovery was ongoing.

It's unclear if the case will continue after her death.

As TMZ previously reported, law enforcement sources tell us Jennifer died by suicide Saturday at her home, where her mother found her inside a bathtub with a pocketknife nearby. She was 36.

Jennifer became widely known after accusing former Fox News anchor Ed Henry of rape in a separate lawsuit, which was settled in 2024. Henry denied the allegations.