Carlson said Tuesday: “I am gratified that 21st Century Fox took decisive action after I filed my complaint”. There are a number of others who quite publicly defended him in recent months as this story came to light. Carlson, in turn, won’t sue the company or any other Fox executive in the future, Vanity Fair reported. “The allegations are that women routinely had to sleep with or be propositioned by their manager – in many cases, Roger Ailes, but I’ve reported on another manager who did this – in exchange for promotions”.
Advertisement
“My client’s beef is with Roger Ailes, and we have no indication yet that Fox approved or authorized his behavior or thinks it’s appropriate”. Carlson named only Ailes, not Fox, as a defendant.
Ailes left the network two weeks after she filed the suit in July. The company said she is “not a victim; she is an opportunist”.
Carlson, a former Miss America, worked for several years on the “Fox & Friends” morning show, then was switched to a less-visible afternoon time slot in 2013.
Greta Van Susteren, host of the nightly broadcast “On the Record”, will leave Fox News after 14 years, the network said in a statement.
Attorneys for Ailes did not immediately return calls for comment on the settlement.
Fox News CEO Roger Ailes poses at Fox News in NY in this 2006 file photo.
Behind the scenes, her lawsuit said, Fox News was “a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny”. Fox is fighting that case and has described Tantaros as an “opportunist” in court papers. You can pretty much bet that she’ll be grabbed up by one of the bigger news networks in no time.
Trying to tie a bow on the message that the Fox News and 21st Century Fox leadership have tried to convey, that its a different day with a different culture.
In a clear example of bad judgment, Van Susteren extended herself in defending Ailes in early July. He previously denied Carlson’s allegations, as well as those of star anchor Megyn Kelly. Fox News Channel said it was a result of poor ratings on her afternoon show, “The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson”, but the anchor – a 1990 Stanford University graduate and the victor of the 1989 Miss America pageant – said she felt her contract wasn’t renewed because she continued to refuse Ailes’ sexual advances.
Van Susteren continued her statement, saying, “I love my staff, I love my colleagues, and I love the crews”.
“I don’t feel like putting up with that stuff and I wouldn’t”, she said.
Advertisement
Fox News has been a ratings juggernaut for 21st Century Fox, contributing $1.35 billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), or 20 percent of parent Twenty-First Century Fox’s total EBITDA in fiscal 2016, according to estimates by Anthony DiClemente, an analyst with Nomura. Ailes’ lawyer, Susan Estrich, declined to comment. Her compensation was also cut and was far lower than male co-workers, Carlson said.
