A growing contingent of Fox News employees are coming forward to publicly support embattled chairman and CEO Roger Ailes in the wake of the sexual harassment claims by former anchor Gretchen Carlson.
From the network’s inception, Roger Ailes has been so synonymous with Fox News that it’s hard to imagine the operation running without the seasoned TV programmer and former Republican political adviser at the helm. But in the wake of the explosive sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Ailes by former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, the question of succession at Fox News has taken on new urgency.
Lawyers for Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes on Friday asked a federal judge to halt anchor Gretchen Carlson’s “shameless publicity campaign” against her longtime former boss and send her sexual harassment lawsuit against him to arbitration. In a filing with the federal court in Newark, N.J., Ailes’ lawyers said Carlson’s contract with the network had required her to arbitrate any employment disputes.
The parent company of Fox News Channel said it would launch what it called an “internal review” of sexual-harassment allegations levied against its top executive, Roger Ailes, as well as one of its most prominent personalities, Steve Doocy, by a former news anchor, Gretchen Carlson.
Exclusives
Gretchen Carlson said that after she refused sexual advances by Fox News chief Roger Ailes, he curtailed her airtime and later declined to renew her contract.
