Rupert Murdoch, the 85-year-old media mogul who started Fox News with Ailes, will assume the role of chairman and will be an interim chief executive of Fox News channel and Fox Business Network until a permanent replacement for Ailes is found. The longtime Fox News commentator and former “Fox & Friends” and “The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson” host claimed she had experienced “severe and pervasive sexual harassment” during her decade-long tenure at Fox, and that Ailes had exhibited “harassing, discriminatory and retaliatory treatment” toward her. The complaint also alleged that Ailes made inappropriate comments and unwanted sexual advances toward Carlson before ultimately terminating the host without notice on June 23.
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21st Century Fox announced Ailes’ resignation on Thursday (US time), without addressing the widening scandal. James Murdoch was traveling in Europe. “Roger shared my vision of a great and independent television organization and executed it brilliantly over 20 great years”, Murdoch said in the statement.
The Fox News chairman dismissed the allegations, but has faced additional claims of misconduct by network officials investigating the matter.
Having spent 20 years building this historic business, I will not allow my presence to become a distraction from the work that must be done every day to ensure that Fox News and Fox Business continue to lead our industry. Fox News CEO Roger Ailes is resigning from the network immediately, according to a statement…
The two sons said in the statement that “we join our father in recognising Roger’s remarkable contributions to our company”, but also hinted about the accusations against him.
“For them, as well as for our colleagues across our entire organization, we continue our commitment to maintaining a work environment based on trust and respect”, the email continued.
“We take seriously our responsibility to uphold these traditional, long-standing values of our company”. He was involved in Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election effort in 1984 and engineered a turnaround for George H.W. Bush, overseeing the media strategy for his 1988 White House win.
Fox News Channel provided a television home to conservatives who had felt left out of the media, and played a part in advancing a rough-and-tumble style of politics that left many concerned that it was impossible to get things done in government. Ailes’s agreement includes a noncompete clause that prohibits him from starting a competing video product, the person said.
Murdoch tapped Ailes to create and run the network in 1996, ushering in a controversial new era in cable news.
An era has ended in Fox News Channel.
“During the Obama administration, this partisanship accelerated as the network openly campaigned for Republican candidates, launched the Tea Party movement, became a farm system for Republican politicians and served as the stage for Republican presidential primaries, among other egregious ethical issues”.
Nancy Erika Smith and Martin Hyman, Carlson’s attorneys, responded to news of Ailes’ resignation by saying their client “has caused a seismic shift in the media world”. Ailes has denied the charges.
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The New York Times reported on Wednesday that at least six other women told the lawyers conducting the internal review that he had behaved inappropriately toward them.
