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In a stinging rebuke, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, Wednesday evening said that Gretchen Carlson only filed her sexual lawsuit because she knew she was going to be fired. The claim comes after Carlson a former Miss America filed a sexual harassment suit in which the 50-year-old host claimed she was wrongly terminated after refusing to have sex with Ailes, aged 75.

Not so,’ claims the head Fox News honcho, insisting that the Real Story host only brought her suit forward because the outlet declined to renew her contract, choosing instead on June 23 to dismiss Carlson after 11 years with the network. The reason for her dismissal, ‘low ratings’ insisted Ailes.

In the last six months, many questions have come to light about the aging Ailes, from arguing with the owner of Fox News, Australian-American media mogul Rupert Murdoch, to turning Fox news into a bullhorn for Donald Trump, to the firing of Andrea Tantaros.

However, a recent report from the Lid, seems to support Ailes’ side of the story.

Interestingly, Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit isn’t the first time Roger Ailes has been accused of sexually harassing employees, according to a Washington Post report.

In her sexual harassment lawsuit, which cites a myriad of damning complaints, Carlson cited one particular conversation the Fox honcho had with her last September: ‘I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you’d be good and better and I’d be good and better.’
Cites Carlson in her suit: ‘Doocy also created a hostile work environment by regularly treating her in a sexist and condescending way, including by putting his hand on her and pulling down her arm to shush her during a live telecast.’

A 2014 biography of Ailes by Gabriel Sherman, The Loudest Voice in the Room, cited by the outlet, tells the story of a female TV producer who said Ailes once offered her higher pay if she would agree to let him have sex with her whenever he wanted. She declined. She also said that Ailes told her he has ‘helped a lot of women get ahead’ in this way.

Adding fissure were claims made by two anonymous Fox employees on Wednesday via the Huffington Post in which the workers told of also being sexually harassed by Ailes. Hardly the wanton look for the patriarch of the conservative media push to hell.

That conversation allegedly ensued after Carlson went to speak with Ailes about what she believed to be discriminatory practices at FOX. Discriminatory practices that Carlson reckons put her career in a blocked zone for refusing to ‘play ball‘ with the ‘boys.’

Other cited complaints include Carlson claiming Ailes called her a ‘man hater’ along with the honcho accusing her of wanting to ‘show up the boys’ when she complained about the diminishing treatment and ‘pervasive sexual harassment’ by her Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy.

These complaints about Doocy are why she was fired from Fox & Friends in 2013 and placed as the host of her own afternoon show, Carlson alleged. Carlson also claims Fox paid her less during this period.

‘We believe that the evidence will confirm that Gretchen was fired from Fox & Friends for speaking up about demeaning and discriminatory behavior on and off the set,’ Nancy Erika Smith, of Smith Mullin PC, which is representing Carlson, said.

In her sexual harassment suit, Gretchen Carlson told how on a number of occasions, Ailes would demand that she ‘turn around so he could view her posterior.’ In another instance, Carlson alleges that Ailes asked her how she felt about him before stating: ‘Do you understand what I’m saying to you?’ 

Another incident alleged Ailes once telling people at an event that he likes to stay seated when women greet him so they have to ‘bend over’ to say hello. The suit also cites the Fox News CEO having called Carlson ‘sexy’ but ‘too much hard work’ along with Ailes allegedly having said he’d ‘slept’ with three former Miss Americas but never her.

Could any woman refuse a standing conservative lothario such as Roger Aisles? Especially former Miss Americas? Not stopping there, the 1989 Miss America winner also claims that her boss denied her ‘various opportunities that were afforded to other Fox News hosts’.

These include ‘reducing her compensation’; ‘severely curtailing her appearances as a guest commentator’; ‘blocking her from appearing as a substitute host’; ‘refusing to assign her to cover high-visibility events’; ‘refusing to give her social media, public relations, and advertising support’; ‘shunning, ostracizing and humiliating her, both publicly and privately’; before ‘decreeing that her contract not be renewed,’ according to the complaint.

In her suit, Carlson demands compensation for her mental anguish along with punitive, demanding that the case is brought forth in front of a jury. Could Roger Aisles be in big trouble?

‘By and through his creation of a discriminatory, hostile and harassing work environment, his demands for sexual favors, and his retaliation against Carlson for her objections to discrimination and retaliation, Ailes has violated the New York City Human Rights Law,’ reads the complaint, which was filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey.

Carlson in a statement on Wednesday: ‘I have strived to empower women and girls throughout my entire career. ‘Although this was a difficult step to take, I had to stand up for myself and speak out for all women and the next generation of women in the workplace. ‘I am extremely proud of my accomplishments at Fox News and for keeping our loyal viewers engaged and informed on events and news topics of the day.’ 

At this point, it looks like Fox News greater than the average leader has gone off the deep end, and is mirroring the tactics of a presumptive Presidential candidate. It is the time that Women are treated equally, fairly, and in the same tone as men. This may just be the tip of an iceberg for the beleaguered news channel that has lost thousands of viewers due to the determination to turn it into a Trump News Network channel.

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iPatriot Contributers

 

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