Ailes also allegedly asked Tantaros about the sexual relationships of other Fox News employees.
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The suit by Tantaros, filed in NY state Supreme Court in Manhattan, is the latest round in a contentious volley that began in late winter, when Fox claimed she had breached her employment contract by writing a book without receiving network approval.
Tantaros says after she complained last spring to a top Ailes deputy, she was told she “needed to let this one go”.
The FOX News lawsuit continues to expand, and now it’s implicating politicians.
Ailes, the network’s founding chairman and guiding force for two decades, resigned last month after a former anchor, Gretchen Carlson, said that she was sacked for refusing his sexual advances. Carlson’s lawsuit, filed only against Ailes, is ongoing. At that time, the network said she made up the claims because she breached her contract after writing a book without getting network clearance. She also placed embarrassing stories about Tantaros, according to the suit.
An internal investigation turned up many other allegations of harassment involving Ailes, but none of his top deputies were implicated.
Tantaros didn’t claim O’Reilly did anything that risqué, but did say in her filing that “Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny”.
In her lawsuit, Tantaros claims Ailes retaliated after she rejected his advances by taking her off from The Five and ordering the company’s media relations department turn against her, BuzzFeed News reported. Scott Brown of MA made unwanted sexual advances toward her. She says she was told she couldn’t wear trousers on the air – and the reason was, “Roger wants to see your legs”.
The lawsuit says that he said to her “in a suggestive manner” that she “would be fun to go to a nightclub with” before “Brown snuck up behind Tantaros while she was purchasing lunch and put his hands on her lower waist”.
In the court documents, Tantaros claims she was the target of unwanted sexual advances from both Ailes and O’Reilly. Through a spokeswoman for Fox News, Ms. Briganti denied that Fox News had used fake accounts to besmirch Ms. Tantaros.
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In an effort to further defend himself against the allegations, Brown on Wednesday shared a video clip from the “Outnumbered” appearance in question, in which Tantaros references a 1982 nude photo spread he did in Cosmopolitan magazine.
