sexual harassment lawsuits

WXYZ Detroit anchor Malcom Maddox repeatedly propositioned a colleague for “deviant” sex, according to a sexual harassment lawsuit filed Tuesday. Former reporter Tara Edwards sued the station and parent company Scripps Media, in federal court, four months after Maddox temporarily was placed on administrative leave amid allegations involving an unnamed colleague.

A former analyst at ESPN has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit, claiming anchor John Buccigross repeatedly made unwanted sexual advances toward her. Adrienne Lawrence says she was terminated after complaining about his behavior and that of other men at ESPN.

The political pundit alleged that Roger Ailes conditioned her network role on a sexual relationship.

Three former employees claim a Sinclair affiliate discriminates against women and ignored complaints about harassment. Jaclyn Mason, Richelle Meiss and Rebecca Zak are suing Sinclair, along with its digital comedy venture Circa Laughs, Medio Pictures Partners, Airplane! writer-director David Zucker and Medio COO Randall Sherman.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Terry Crews alleges talent agents at William Morris Endeavor are “knowingly permitted and encouraged to engage in sexually predatory conduct” in a lawsuit filed Tuesday against […]

Legal woes for Weinstein Co. mounted Wednesday when the company was hit with a class-action lawsuit on behalf of dozens of women accusing co-founder Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, battery and lewd conduct.

Theresa Collington, the former digital director for WTSP, the CBS affiliate in Tampa, Fla., is suing the station and its parent company, Tegna, for sex discrimination. Her complaint alleges Tegna discriminated against her in her compensation and when she was ultimately terminated for violations of the company’s social media policy that male employees violated regularly with impunity.

Woody Fraser, the legendary TV executive who gave Roger Ailes his start, and much later produced a show on Fox News, announced on Tuesday that attorney Lisa Bloom is threatening to sue him for sexual harassment. Fraser, the 82-year-old creator of The Mike Douglas Show and many other programs, is attempting to turn the tables on Bloom by preemptively announcing that she is targeting him. According to Fraser, two women have hired the attorney and demanded a significant sum to make the allegations go away. He said they have threatened to go public within the next few days.

Two months after a sexual harassment scandal led to his ouster from Fox, O’Reilly is considering competing against his former employer.

The harassment scandals at Fox News have the potential to create legal problems up and down the corporate ladder, as attorneys attempt to show a culture of indifference to the complaints of female employees. Attorneys for 21st Century Fox are attempting to limit the damage, arguing in a legal brief filed Monday that the issues at Fox News cannot be used to sue Fox’s owned-and-operated stations.

Although he has been widely depicted as a domestic abuser and serial sex harasser, Bill O’Reilly remains a hot TV property. Conservative media outlets are circling the former Fox News Channel ratings king in the hope of creating a potent competitor to Fox News Channel.

The Wall Street Journal reports that federal authorities have interviewed current and former Fox News employees and on-air talent in a widening inquiry into the nature of sexual-harassment settlements and alleged intimidation tactics at the network, according to people familiar with the probe. WSJ subscribers can read the full story here.

“I am sad that I’m not on television anymore,” Bill O’Reilly said in an episode Monday of his personal website’s No Spin News podcast, available only to subscribers after this week’s free window. “I was very surprised how it all turned out.” O’Reilly, who exited Fox News amid sexual harassment allegations that he has denied, said he couldn’t add much more “because there’s much stuff going on right now.”

That is equivalent to one year of a rich new four-year deal that O’Reilly finalized earlier this year.

Bill O’Reilly will be paid tens of millions of dollars on his way out of Fox News. “It is a staggering amount,” said a source personally involved in the exit maneuverings. 21st Century Fox and O’Reilly’s representatives will not acknowledge the existence of a payout. A confidentiality agreement limits what the two sides can say. But two well-placed sources confirmed to CNNMoney that O’Reilly does have a parachute. That’s because O’Reilly signed a new contract right before being ousted.

The network’s parent company, entertainment giant 21st Century Fox, insisted that Fox News will weather the current storm, noting in a statement the “strength of its talent bench” and expressing “full confidence that the network will continue to be a powerhouse in cable news.” That certainly could happen, though it probably won’t be easy. Here’s why.

A well-placed source said Tuesday afternoon that representatives for Fox News Channel and Bill O’Reilly have begun talking about an exit. But this prompted a denial from sources in O’Reilly’s camp. Even one person close to O’Reilly, however, said he will probably not be back on The O’Reilly Factor. The original well-placed source said an announcement about O’Reilly’s fate was likely by the end of the week.

The future of Bill O’Reilly’s long career as a Fox News host may hinge on the accusation raised by Wendy Walsh, who alleged he retaliated against her when she rebuffed his advances.

Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly is slotted to return from his vacation on April 24, but given advertiser defections and the swirl of stories about payouts totaling $13 million to five women to keep harassment allegations quiet, it’s impossible to dismiss the idea that O’Reilly may lose his television home. Replacing the host who came to define the network would be no easy task.Here’s a look at who’s on Fox’s bench.

Rupert Murdoch and his sons, Lachlan and James, are reckoning with the fallout of a sexual harassment scandal that has once again engulfed Fox News and its parent company, 21st Century Fox. The Murdochs are awaiting the results of an investigation into Bill O’Reilly’s conduct before making a decision about whether he will stay or go, two people briefed on the plan said Wednesday.

Embattled Fox News host Bill O’Reilly announced Tuesday night that he is taking a vacation. O’Reilly’s decision to go off the air comes in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal and advertiser boycott, but he said he’d scheduled his trip “last fall” — well before the New York Times reported he paid $13 million to settle harassment claims. A Fox News spokesperson confirmed O’Reilly will return on April 24. But according to four network sources, there’s talk inside Fox News that Tuesday’s show could be his last.

21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, confirmed Sunday night it will investigate a sexual harassment claim against prime-time host Bill O’Reilly. “21st Century Fox investigates all complaints and we have asked the law firm Paul Weiss to continue assisting the company in these serious matters,” the company said.

The parent company of Fox News, 21st Century Fox, will investigate the sexual harassment claims leveled at host Bill O’Reilly, the lawyer of one of his accusers said Sunday. Civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom, who is representing former The O’Reilly Factor contributor Wendy Walsh, said to CNN’s Brian Stelter on Reliable Sources that she was told by the company’s lawyers that they would launch an investigation based on Walsh’s accusations.

In just the few days since The New York Times reported that Fox News’ most popular primetime host, Bill O’Reilly, and his employer have paid $13 million to five women to settle allegations he mistreated them, more than 50 advertisers have said they don’t want their products associated with O’Reilly’s show, drugmaker Eli Lily and Coldwell Banker among the latest. Others include Mercedes-Benz, Bayer and Allstate. The companies appeared to be acting on their own, to the surprise of advocacy groups that usually orchestrate such campaigns.

Although more than 30 advertisers have now left Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor due to recent allegations, the network itself hasn’t lost any revenue. “At this time, the ad buys of those clients have been re-expressed into other FNC programs,” said Paul Rittenberg, the cable network’s EVP of advertising sales.

Six more companies said they were pulling their advertisements from Bill O’Reilly’s program The O’Reilly Factor on Tuesday, bringing the total to eight in the last 24 hours.

Julie Roginsky, a Fox News Channel contributor who was best known, perhaps, for her appearances on the cable-news outlet’s The Five, raised new allegations of sexual harassment at Fox News Channel in a lawsuit detailing her account of being harassed by former Fox News chief Roger Ailes and then discriminated against in retaliation

About $13 million has been paid out over the years by Fox News to address complaints from women about Bill O’Reilly’s behavior. He denies the claims have merit.

A federal grand jury will hear testimony on whether Fox News improperly handled financial settlements given to female employees who made sexual harassment claims against the company.

A federal grand jury is expected to soon hear testimony linked to harassment claims at Fox News. But the dismissal of Preet Bharara may complicate the inquiry.

In late February, 21st Century Fox reached a settlement worth more than $2.5 million with Tamara Holder, a former Fox News contributor who reported that she was sexually assaulted by an executive at company headquarters two years ago, according to people briefed on the agreement.

Roger Ailes might or might not be getting a position in the Trump administration, but the former Fox News chief’s time at the channel has found his old bosses back in court with another sexual harassment lawsuit — this time from a NYC Fox reporter.

Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who filed that first sexual harassment lawsuit against former Fox News chief Roger Ailes, will be interviewed by ABC News’s 20/20 for a full hour on the subject of sexual harassment. It airs on Friday.

Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson is set for 20/20 on November 18, marking her first television interview since the Roger Ailes debacle.