Andrea Tantaros, a former host at the cable network, filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming that she was sexually harassed by not only former Fox News Chief Roger Ailes, but popular prime time host Bill O’Reilly and former Massachusetts Sen. Her suit alleges that she was repeatedly warned against wearing trousers on-air because “Roger wants to see your legs”, and that O’Reilly, who she regarded as a mentor, made unwelcome overtures.
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Fox News Anchor Andrea Tantaros attends A Night of Style & Glamour to welcome newlyweds Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries at Capitale on August 31, 2011, in New York City.
During arbitration, Burstein said that Fox News offered to pay Tantaros more than $1 million if she dropped claims against Ailes and others at Fox, including “O’Reilly Factor” host Bill O’Reilly. She said that Shine, then a senior executive, and the company’s top in-house lawyer shrugged off complaints about Ailes’ conduct.
Ailes resigned in July after Ms Carlson said in a lawsuit that she was sacked because she refused his sexual advances.
“There were never any circumstances of any kind whatsoever in which I had any interaction with her or any other employee at Fox, outside the studio”, Brown said.
It argues that Ailes, who stepped down last month after being overrun by accusations of sexual abuse, “did not act alone” and his actions were “condoned by his most senior lieutenants”.
Fox News has declined to comment on the allegations due to pending litigation.
In her legal documents, Tantaros holds nothing back when assessing what life was like as a Fox News employee. While on set, Brown allegedly told Tantaros she “would be fun to go to a nightclub with”.
Tantaros also claims that the disgraced executive once asked her is Guilfoyle was sleeping with her The Five co-host Eric Bolling. Ailes denied the allegations, and stepped down shortly thereafter. In one instance he even asked her to turn around so Mr. Ailes could have “a better look” of the anchor.
NY magazine reported that a former booker for the network, Laurie Luhn, alleged that shed been sexually harassed by Ailes over a period of 20 years. Fox, for its part, has suggested that Tantaros “concocted sexual harassment claims to gain leverage in the contract dispute”, according to the Times. The lawsuit comes two weeks after the former Fox host made the harassment allegations in NY magazine.
Tantaros’ battles with Fox began last winter when the network said she had breached her employment contract by writing a book without getting network clearance.
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Tantaros joined Fox as a contributor in 2010, and a year later was named co-host of “The Five”, which aired at 5 p.m.
