According to the suit, Carlson met with Ailes to discuss discriminatory behavior by Steve Doocy, a co-host with Carlson on Fox & Friends. While Fox News has been criticized for its partisan programming, it has used controversies such as the fight between Ms. Kelly and Republican nominee Donald Trump to build ratings.
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The claims made by Carlson spurred an internal investigation at Fox News.
“I noticed the people who’ve been saying “he never sexually harassed me” also, by the way, work for Fox News, which was such a weird coincidence”, Coulter told HuffPost. Now, several media outlets are reporting that Rupert Murdoch and his sons are negotiating a departure by the 76-year-old Ailes.
The Murdoch-owned newspaper cites sources who said Ailes is out as CEO and chairman of the company.
The brothers have made their stamp on the business in various ways – carrying out buyouts to trim costs and restructuring the worldwide channels business.
Carlson accused Ailes of asking for sexual favors and not renewing her contract after she refused his advances.
Carlson worked at Fox News for almost a decade until last month.
Fox stated at the time it had “full confidence” in Ailes but added that it was reviewing the matter. Fox said her contract was simply not renewed. “And nearly nobody can imagine what it becomes without Roger Ailes”. Varietyalso reported the amount of the buyout.
Carlson, a mainstay of the network for 11 years, left Fox News on June 23 and shortly afterward filed a lawsuit against her former boss. She couldn’t be reached for comment and her agent declined to comment.
Estrich said that neither she nor Ailes likely saw the document that Drudge posted. It’s refreshing news that the exec will no longer run Fox News, but the fact that he’ll be payed to leave taints the bit of progress achieved. Some former Fox News executives think the younger Murdochs ultimately would want to hire an executive they are familiar with if they make a change. He was a media consultant for three successful Republican presidential candidates – Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush – but retired as a political consultant after working on Richard Thornburgh’s losing Senate campaign in 1991.
Missing from the statement was any public show of support for Ailes, the mastermind of Fox News, the highest-rated cable news channel in the United States. “The most important thing for Roger is that Fox News continues to be the No. 1 cable network”. “He is the most important person in conservative movement in America”, Hollywood Reporter columnist Michael Wolff – who has written about Ailes extensively and a book on Rupert Murdoch – told NBC News Tuesday.
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The Journal and The New York Times both quoted sources close to the situation on the exit talks as speculation swirled on Ailes’s future.
