Andrea Tantaros, former co-host of “The Five” on Fox News, is suing Fox and top executives, charging the conservative cable TV network harbors a culture of “misogyny” and maintains it through intimidation.
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Tantaros claims O’Reilly, who is not listed as a defendant, invited her to stay with him on Long Island where it would be “very private” and told her “on more than one occasion that he could ‘see (her) as a wild girl.'” Shine, she said, encouraged her to drop her harassment claims.
“Brown made a number of sexually inappropriate comments to Tantaros on set, including, and in a suggestive manner, that Tantaros “would be fun to go to a nightclub with”, the suit said”.
Ailes “may have been the primary culprit, but his actions were condoned by most senior lieutenants, who engaged in a concerted effort to silence Tantaros by threats, humiliation, and retaliation”, the lawsuit said.
In her suit, Tantaros says she heard again and again from Fox News executives that she must not wear trousers on the air.
Charges have gone back and forth, with Fox claiming the harassment allegations were created to bolster Tantaros’ claims, while the former anchor has argued that the breach-of-contract allegation was a way to get rid of her. Brown claimed he had never had any social conversation with the show host or exchanged emails.
During arbitration, Burstein said, Fox News offered to pay her a sum “in the seven figures” if she renounced claims against Ailes and others at the network, including the host Bill O’Reilly.
She says her job “devolved into a nightmare of sexual harassment” by Ailes in the summer of 2014. The lawsuit comes two weeks after the former Fox host made the harassment allegations in NY magazine. “There were never any circumstances of any kind whatsoever in which I had any interaction with her or any other employee at Fox, outside the studio”, Brown said in a statement. Scott Brown, sexually harassed a co-worker at Fox News are totally false. The names involved in the lawsuit are Roger Ailes, former network head Roger Ailes, host Bill O’Reilly, and US Senator Scott Brown.
Fox News said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation. She claims that she immediately complained about it with Shine and asked him to make sure Brown would never be booked on her show again.
According to the suit, Fox News told Ms. Tantaros that she was removed from her program because she had violated company guidelines by failing to disclose a coming book she had written, “Tied Up in Knots”, which was published this year by HarperCollins.
Tantaros first went public with her allegations last winter.
An internal investigation turned up many other allegations of harassment involving Ailes, but none of his top deputies were implicated. I haven’t been to a club in 30 years.
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“In the 3 years I have been working there, I treat all people there the same, whether they be male or female. I would suggest you view the shows”, Brown added.
