Ailes has denied the allegations, but that didn’t keep Fox News parent 21st Century Fox from agreeing Tuesday to a $20 million settlement with Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News anchor whose lawsuit against Ailes served as the original spark to the furor.
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Carlson said in the same statement that she was “ready to move on” and that she plans to redouble her “efforts to empower women in the workplace”.
Sources tell Vanity Fair that two other women have reached similar settlements with 21st Century Fox.
In a statement said she was grateful for Fox’s “decisive action”.
According to United States media reports, part of that cost will be borne by Ailes, 76, personally.
The company said in its statement that during her tenure at Fox News, “Gretchen exhibited the highest standards of journalism and professionalism”.
Though we would all like to see Ailes sitting pretty in a jail cell, this massive settlement from Fox is a significant step in the right direction.
Andrea Tantaros, meanwhile, has brought her own lawsuit against Fox News, alleging in her complaint that the network “operated like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency, and misogyny”.
The fact that the highly regarded and well-respected Brit Hume will be taking over Van Susteren’s timeslot on Fox News is the flawless example of the exception which proves the rule of cable news being badly broken journalistically.
Van Susteren, who worked for CNN before joining Fox News, said that she hopes to continue in broadcasting.
Ailes has also been accused of sexual harassment by Megyn Kelly and other Fox News employees. Then it was revealed that evening host Greta Van Susteren is leaving Fox News, apparently because of a clause in her contract which lets her leave if Ailes did.
Fox did not explain Van Susteren’s exit, although a person close to the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity described it as a financial disagreement.
Senior political analyst Brit Hume will take over Van Susteren’s 7 p.m. show starting Tuesday and running through the election, Fox News announced.
She also claimed the company retaliated by taking her off Fox & Friends and cutting her pay because she didn’t sleep with him. She had defended Ailes in an interview with The Daily Beast in the immediate aftermath of Carlson’s lawsuit, saying she had known nothing of the alleged behavior.
And she will not have a chance to say goodbye on the air.
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Her future plans were not immediately clear.
