Bonafide creep Roger Ailes has resigned as the CEO of Fox News amid a slew of sexual harassment allegations. If you aren’t familiar with what has been happening over at the “fair and balanced” news channel, here is an update:
The ex-host of “Fox and Friends” and formers news reporter for Fox News, Gretchen Carlson, was fired this past June after 11 years with the network.
Carlson then proceeded to file a lawsuit on July 6th against Ailes, claiming that he had sexually harassed her on multiple occasions, propositioned her for sex, and then fired her when she refused his advances.
After Carlson filed the lawsuit, at least 20 other female employees of Fox News, including the famous news anchor Megyn Kelly, came forward either publicly or privately (to Carlson’s legal counsel) with similar sexual harassment allegations against Ailes.
Yesterday, the media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced that Roger Ailes had resigned as the CEO of Fox News and that Murdoch himself would take over as interim. Carlson’s team rejoiced in what they called a “seismic shift in the media world” with regards to treatment of women.
BUT don’t get too excited yet!
It has been reported that Ailes will receive in excess of 40 million dollars as part of his exit package. Seriously?? It just goes to show how little justice is achieved in cases of workplace sexual harassment, especially when it comes to super powerful men in the media. It’s cool and all that he is leaving Fox News. I am sure all the female employees of Fox News are relieved. But what does this say about actually changing the patriarchal culture of major media outlets?
Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet, a national women’s advocacy organization that has called for Ailes to be fired, issued the following statement in reaction to the news:
“While we are glad to see Roger Ailes step down from his position at Fox News, sending him off with zero accountability and a big check is a slap in the face to the dozens of women he harassed during his tenure as CEO and does nothing to fundamentally change the culture of Fox News that he created.
“Fox News must continue its investigation into all claims of sexual harassment and hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions.
“We applaud Gretchen Carlson and the other women at Fox News who had the courage to speak out about their experiences, seek justice and hold a serial sexual harasser accountable.”
More than 50,000 people have signed a petition from UltraViolet, calling on Ailes to be removed immediately, and for Fox News to conduct a full investigation into allegations of sexual assault and harassment at the network.
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