Friday, July 08, 2016

It appears that the Gretchen Carlson sexual harassment lawsuit could spell the end for Fox News chief Roger Ailes.

Courtesy of New York Magazine:

On Wednesday, Fox’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, released a terse statement saying it took the allegations “seriously” and is conducting an “internal review of the matter.” The wording and timing of the press release — Ailes had yet to issue his own response, which, when it came, described the lawsuit as “retaliatory” (Carlson was just dropped from Fox) and claimed it would be “vigorously defended” – signal that Ailes’s standing with the Murdochs is precarious. According to one highly placed Fox source, Murdoch and his sons, Lachlan and James, approved the hiring of an outside lawyer to conduct the independent investigation. While it’s common for large companies to bring in outside counsel to conduct inquiries during public scandals, the move is a radical one for Murdoch. “Unprecedented,” one former senior executive told me. “It’s not Rupert’s style to investigate internal issues.” 

Executives I spoke with over the past 24 hours said the hiring of an outside lawyer is also an indication that Murdoch’s sons may be capitalizing on the Carlson scandal to achieve a long-held goal: forcing Ailes out. “It’s a coup,” one person close to the company told me. If the investigation into Ailes’s management confirms Carlson’s account, or turns up additional episodes of harassment with other Fox women, it stands to reason the Murdoch children would have the leverage they need to push Ailes aside and install a less-right-wing chief. “This could be curtains for Ailes,” another person close to the company said. Indeed, several months after NBC hired an outside counsel in 1995 to investigate Ailes’s alleged anti-Semitic slur, he left NBC. 

Based on what Carlson’s camp is saying, it appears her lawsuit could unleash a torrent of new allegations from other women. “He’s the Bill Cosby of media,” Carlson’s lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, told me today. “My office is being deluged with calls and website contacts from women. I don’t even have a count anymore … Women as young as 16 who said he demanded oral sex. Another said during an interview that he said, ‘Take off your bra.’ She was devastated.” Smith told me she’s forwarding the names of women who agreed to be interviewed to journalists. The New York Times currently has multiple reporters working on the story.

Well if it is true that Ailes demanded oral sex from sixteen year old girls than I think losing his job is the least of his worries.

So is it actually possible that we could see Fox News go in a less conservative direction once Ailes is dragged kicking and screaming from the building?

And if that is possible what does it mean for American journalism moving forward?

We could be on the brink of something that could literally change the political landscape.

40 comments:

  1. Gretchen is a smart woman. I'm betting that she has documented everything, to prove her case. If there is anything that will be in your favor, is documentation, Date, Time, what was said, What happened, etc.

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  2. Anonymous1:51 PM

    Murdochs are still at the helm. Journalism moving forward? Highly doubt it!

    I never did understand how Joe McGinniss and Ailes were such best buds. They seemed like polar opposites.

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  3. Anonymous1:51 PM

    Dayum! Now I know we are in the end times. I'm rooting for Wretchin' Carlson! You go girl.

    Wonder if this has anything to do with Hassleblech leaving. She did take the couch right after GC.

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  4. Anonymous1:59 PM

    Makes you wonder how Sarah last as long as she did on Fox, broadcasting from her remote studio, seen from the waist up. Of course Sarah did followed Ailes dress code of a short skirt and high high heels when she gave speeches or sat in front of her private TV channel, rubbing her thighs.

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    1. Anonymous2:34 PM

      You know she's plotting a spot in that suit for herself. What better way to make a few $ without work? Right up her alley.

      "He touched my Belmonts!!"

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:57 PM

      Send in MOH and D'OH!

      The next Mary Matalin and James Carville political power couple!

      Is that's what you're up to, $arahskank? They'll need a darned good ventriloquist, but the dummy they have down pat!

      Delete
  5. Anonymous2:00 PM

    Rupert Murdoch married Jagger's ex, Jerry Hall, this year. I can't imagine she'd marry someone super-conservative and who'd want to keep Fox as conservative as it is. I have to see that marriage as a good sign!

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    1. Anonymous2:20 PM

      Jerry loves her $$.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:43 PM

      and she's from Texas.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3:23 PM

      Jerry Hall is not Bianca Jagger.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous3:42 PM

      Please. Hall is no liberal.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous3:50 PM

      Jerry has made a career out of being a golddigger

      Delete
    6. Anonymous3:51 PM

      She loves him cause he so sexy.

      Any woman that could crawl into bed with that cadaver is not the sort of woman who would be concerned by the cadaver's politics.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous4:00 PM

      Murdoch has a face like a scrotum. Not enough $$$$ In the world .....

      Delete
  6. Anonymous2:07 PM

    The 'family values' cloak the RW wears hides a whole lot more. Hypocrites is what they are. Dishonesty permeates their essential nature. They try to deny their true nature by projecting it on the left. Pitiful.

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    1. Anonymous2:52 PM

      I think this is true for many RWers. I think it's true for many leaders. I also thing there are very honorable RWers. I know some of them. they drive me crazy, but I find them honorable.

      I don't think we should lump them all together. On the other hand, I'm totally fine with calling out the hypocrites.
      Lucy

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:13 PM

      Do you think there are no hypocites except RWers. I could name a few liberals pretty quickly.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3:38 PM

      There are no family values associated with Fox. They lie and they lie repeatedly to the point of spreading propaganda. They created the Dr. Tiller Baby Killer meme, resulting in some nut killing Dr. Tiller. They have stoked the racial hatred out there by saying that Obama was born in Kenya and he is a Muslim (and he is a communist too). They have taken swift boating to an entirely new level. It's about ratings and fueling hatred and those are not family values.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous2:07 PM

    Hi Patti @ 1:45 PM
    I caught this clip on the WayBack Machine. It suggests that the blonde bimbo roll Gretchen did on Faux was just part of the job. Wonder what's in Kelly's File?

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    1. Anonymous3:36 PM

      http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ahba3f/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-gretchen-carlson-dumbs-down

      Delete
  8. Anonymous2:21 PM

    Rupert is on top of the world with his new arm candy. Do you suppose he found away to purge the old fat guy?

    In that case, yeah, Ailes is gone. He may just die soon, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:36 PM

      Jerry Hall is 60 years old and she looks 60 years old. Is that the best that Rupert can do, with all his money and media? We haven't seen Jerry around for years. Great choice.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:14 PM

      Thats not kind.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous5:18 PM

      Oh, like it's not polite to insult Rupert and his most recent wife. Jerry was a party girl in her day, so she invites some comments too. Most of all, I really do dislike Murdoch for financing Sarah Palin, giving her a book deal, putting her on Fox and giving her a voice to destroy Obama. Sarah did not succeed, but she did plenty of damage with her Death Panels and Gun Rhetoric. Murdoch gave Sarah's hate a megaphone.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous2:34 PM

    Hope Gretchen has tape recordings of her meetings with Roger.

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  10. Anonymous2:41 PM

    Don't worry, MSNBC will pick up the slack when Fox goes purple. I f**king hate msnbc, featuring Brian Williams covering the current protests and sniper deaths. Why him and his 'uhs' and slow overcautious comments?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:42 PM

      He really is pathetic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:48 PM

      I don't think Fox will go purple but I do think MSNBC will complete the transition to red. I stopped watching months ago, none of them except Joy Reid have maintained their integrity. I was devastated to learn who these people really are and how two-dimensional they are but I'm not angry any more, they were easy to forget and I found plenty of enjoyable things to do with the time.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous2:51 PM

    Wonder if Ailes will call Palin to testify as an authority on sexual harassment?

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  12. If Rupert thought he'd make money showing a hippo swimming in a pool twenty-four seven----he'd show a hippo swimming in a pool. If he could make money showcasing socialist all day he would. It just so happens he makes a lot of money scaring the hell out of old midwestern and southern people.

    The only thing I think Rupert's kids disagree with him on is saving the environment and Roger Ailes. They want to save the world from climate change and Rupert wanted to inflict Ailes on the world. Should be interesting to see who wins.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:39 PM

      Totally agree, Angela

      Delete
  13. Anonymous3:44 PM

    I don't think Fox will change direction, because Hate is Rupert Murdoch's trademark.

    If Murdoch has brought in outside investigators it probably means the cunning old bastard knows there's a lot of diverse shit to find and wants to distance himself from it asap so he can plead ignorance.

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  14. Anonymous4:13 PM

    I hope they force that puke Steve doocy out too.

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  15. Anonymous4:14 PM

    Several years ago murdoch gave control of U.S. Fox to his 2 sons. Ailes independently issued a statement saying he would still be reporting solely to Rupert Murdoch. RM put out a statement saying that Ailes Would be reporting to his sons . Supposedly there has been bad blood between Ailes and the Murdoch's ever since. Ever since they have been looking for a way to get rid of Ailes. This would be the perfect avenue to get rid of the gross slug. You live by the sword and you die by the sword.

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  16. Anita Winecooler5:28 PM

    Are prison stripes horizontal or vertical? For his sake I hope vertical..... much more slimming.

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  17. Anonymous6:03 PM

    OT MAYBE?
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackie-fuchs/post_12484_b_10884482.html

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  18. Anonymous7:10 PM

    Don't count on the political landscape being changed.

    http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-british-scandal-murdoch-20150611-story.html

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  19. Anonymous8:11 PM

    Murdoch would be glad to cleanse himself of Ailes but it is not going to change much.

    Trump controlled by his family is a losing game for him. Let Trump be Trump.

    Whatever reservations black people may have about Clinton, he concluded, “she may have just won them over.”
    http://www.mediaite.com/tv/don-lemon-hillarys-plea-to-white-people-on-shootings-may-have-won-over-black-voters/


    Sarah can't win over a turd.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:15 PM

    Har,,, Har,,, Har,,,

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  21. Anonymous11:27 PM

    Nah. Murdoch will still own it.

    He'll just find another "Ailes" to run it. They will still be the lying right wing nuts they currently are. Why change a winning forumula?

    ReplyDelete

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