So what will Roger do know? A day after Roger Ailes hired Charles Harder, the hottest defo lawyer in Hollywood, to monster his tormentors in chief, New York magazine and journalist Gabe Sherman, 21st Century Fox, his former long time employer, has cut the ground from under his feet by settling the sexual harassment case Fox News host Gretchen Carlson had brought against him. Fox is funding all the US$20 million settlement (A$26 million), despite the action being against Ailes personally. Contrary to previous understandings, the former head of Fox News is not making a contribution. Vanity Fair first reported the settlement, which came two months exactly from when Carlson first made her claims. Some reports say the hiring of Charles Harder indicates Ailes intends pursuing Sherman and New York magazine because the reporter authored an unofficial biography of the former Fox News boss which reportedly still enrages him.
And reports in US media this morning suggest that at least two more settlements from Fox are on the way as the case continues to spiral. At the same time, Greta Van Susteren, a long-time Fox News host, announced on Facebook that she is leaving the network after 14 years and will be replaced as host of the network’s On the Record show by Brit Hume.
And in a late bit of news, NBC, the US TV network, has hired Gabe Sherman, the author of the unauthorised biography of Roger Ailes. Sherman will still report for New York magazine where he has been leading the probing of the allegations against Ailes. This deal is interesting because Ailes is advising Donald Trump, who was, for 15 years, host of The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice programs on NBC, but who will not be returning there after the poll and if he loses. NBC and Trump fell out over the latter’s campaign for president and his comments on Mexicans, women, black people and Muslims. The Apprentice programs started strongly 15 years ago but gradually lost viewers, especially The Celebrity Apprentice spin-off, which Trump was hosting when he quit to run for the Republican nomination. NBC bosses told him last month he would not be welcomed back.
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