 Gretchen Carlson - Roger Ailes Roger Ailes has a legacy of political brilliance. Nothing will erase that. But since leaving electoral management Ailes has built some strong solid media machines. He transformed CNBC into an evening talk success. Remember when he managed Rush Limbaugh's 4 years of syndicated TV? The Rupert Murdoch asked Ailes to take the helm of the new Fox News Channel. Since 1996, Ailes has been putting together a global news machine. But the deep dark secrets of Roger Ailes' personal life are now becoming racey rumors and most recently, a financial drain on the news corporation he resigned from, this Summer. | Gretchen Carlson opened the first big flood of taudry rumors when she resigned and filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News, naming Ailes as a primary harasser. But then came Andrea Tantaros' claims. Rudi Bakhtiar and Laurie Luhn added perhaps the most blatantly damaging claims against the men at Fox News. Sadly, the network that good conservatives in the nation have seen as a hero of carrying a political message; now brings disrepute to that cause. Other women have left under the guise of various public 'reasons'. We will see if their stories become nuanced as a result of the recent revelations.
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 Laurie Luhn Laurie Luhn, a former Fox News booker, told lawyers at Paul, Weiss that Ailes, 76, sexually harassed and “tortured” her for over 20 years, according to New York magazine. Luhn, 56, claimed their tumultuous relationship began in 1990 when Ailes slipped her a kiss — and some money to help with her bills. From there, Luhn began performing sexual favors for career advancement. She claimed her “uniform” was a black garter belt, and that Ailes taped their first encounter to hold as blackmail. Luhn recalled him yelling at her, “tell me you will do what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it. At any time, at any place when I call. No matter where I call you, no matter where you are. Do you understand? You will follow orders. If I tell you to put on your uniform, what are you gonna do, Laurie? WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO, LAURIE?” Still, Luhn went forward with Ailes to keep her career in tact. She soon found herself as the Director of Bookings. She claimed she was required to “lure” girls to Ailes as part of her job, and even recalled him saying: “you’re going to find me ‘Roger’s Angels.’ You’re going to find me whores.” The 56-year-old claimed they met frequently at hotel rooms — and once her boss threatened to fire her over an expensed room at a DoubleTree, Ailes promoted her and changed her supervisor. Luhn claimed that their relationship then moved from hotel rooms to phone sex, and soon after she was demoted to a “no show” position at Fox. She subsequently had a mental breakdown on a flight to Mexico — and eventually moved home to Texas where she attempted suicide. Luhn first came forward to Fox’s lawyer, Dianne Brandi, in late 2010 or early 2011. She signed a $3.15 million settlement with Fox on June 15, 2011. After Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes earlier this month, she tweeted her support for Luhn. | Fox News’s efforts to swiftly mop up the mess left by its ousted founder, Roger Ailes, hit a snag with Andrea Tantaros. The former The Five host filed an explosive lawsuit last week alleging that the network’s highest-ranking executives and on-air talent, including Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, sexually harassed her, and that the network retaliated against her for speaking up about their behavior. In the suit, Tantaros’s lawyer said the network “operates like a sex-fueled Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency, and misogyny.” This Summer, Tantaros’s attorney claimed that Fox News offered her a seven-figure settlement agreement in arbitration if she were to back off the allegations she had made about sexual harassment in the office, but she declined the offer. Fox News filed a legal response on Monday, seeking to move her case to arbitration rather than have it play out in public. The filing, which calls Tantaros a “wannabe” and her complaint “baseless” and “filled with falsehoods,” states that under her contract, employment matters are to be settled out of court. “The fact that arbitration may not present the opportunities for public vilification that she and her counsel seem to favor does not excuse ignoring the express terms of her employment agreement,” the motion states. Before Fox News filed its motion, Tantaros’s lawyer sent out a document to reporters challenging Ailes and other Fox News executives to take lie-detector tests. “The time has come . . . either to let this case play out in the courtroom or to conduct an even-handed trial in the court of pubic opinion,” he wrote.
Former Fox News host Laurie Dhue says she was asked by Roger Ailes if she was wearing underwear while jumping on a trampoline with his son. Dhue, who worked at Fox News for eight years, claims she was sexually harassed by Roger Ailes during her time at the network Dhue was allegedly asked by Roger Ailes if she was wearing underwear while jumping on the trampoline with Ailes’ then 6-year-old son, Zach Ailes. The incident allegedly occurred at the home of Steve Doocy, the host of Fox & Friends, who was having a BBQ at the time Her lawyer is now questioning how thorough the internal investigation into sexual harassment at the network has been . A 21st Century Fox spokesperson called that claim 'ridiculous' . |
