These tapes (EXCLUSIVE TO PATHEOS.COM) were secretly emailed to me the same day as Fox News reached a settlement with former news anchor Gretchen Carlson for a reported $20m over claims she was sacked from the network after she refused sexual advances from chairman Roger Ailes.
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NEW YORK (AP) Former Fox News Channel anchor Gretchen Carlson has settled her sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes, the case that led to the downfall of Fox’s chief executive with stunning swiftness this summer.
Carlson filed the lawsuit (on 6 July) against Ailes himself, but the network was reportedly liable for the settlement, according to Vanity Fair.
Greta Van Susteren, host of the nightly broadcast “On the Record”, will leave Fox News after 14 years, the network said in a statement. Van Susteren, who had publicly defended Ailes after Carlson made her accusations, said in a Facebook post that she chose to leave on Thursday.
In her lawsuit, Carlson said her contract wasn’t renewed after she “refused to sleep” with Ailes and reported “severe and pervasive sexual harassment” at her workplace.
Fox reportedly paid Ailes a million severance package. “All women deserve a dignified and respectful workplace in which talent, hard work and loyalty are recognised, revered and rewarded”.
Van Susteren, who worked for CNN before joining Fox News, said that she hopes to continue in broadcasting.
Following several of these uncomfortable interactions, Carlson began recording her phone conversations with Ailes.
“We are grateful for Greta’s many contributions over the years and wish her continued success”, Fox News co-presidents Jack Abernethy and Bill Shine said in a statement.
The willingness of 21st Century Fox to settle Carlson’s lawsuit just weeks after it was filed appears to reflect the influence of Lachlan and James Murdoch, the sons of 21st Century Fox executive chairman Rupert Murdoch. Fox News also said the former on-air personality “is not a victim, she’s an opportunist”. “Her last show was Thursday, and the swiftness of events did not allow her to deliver an on-air farewell”.
Fox News CEO Roger Ailes poses at Fox News in NY in this 2006 file photo.
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Ailes is now advising the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. That was a different interpretation of the clause than the one held by Fox News and parent company 21st Century Fox, the people said.
