UPDATE, Thursday, July 7, 2016, 8:02 AM ET: Ailes has responded by calling the allegations “false” and Carlson’s lawsuit “offensive.” You can read his full response here.
In her sexual harassment lawsuit filed in New Jersey state court Wednesday, Gretchen Carlson detailed years of alleged discrimination and retaliation at the hands of Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, which she claimed came as the result of her refusal to have a sexual relationship with Ailes.
Carlson, a longtime host with the conservative news network, accused Ailes of increasingly sidelining her at the network, treating her in a demeaning manner in the presence of others, and eventually demanding her Fox News contract not be renewed in June.
Here are some of the most explosive allegations detailed in Carlson’s lawsuit.
Ailes’ sexual advances were not subtle
When Carlson brought her concerns to a meeting with Ailes last September, the Fox News boss allegedly told her, “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.”
He also allegedly said “sometimes problems are easier to solve” that way.
Carlson on “Fox & Friends” with co-hosts Doocy (left) and Kilmeade (right).
Co-host Steve Doocy made her feel like ‘blond female prop’
Carlson, who co-hosted the network’s morning news show “Fox & Friends” for more than seven years, complained about co-host Steve Doocy’s behavior to her supervisor in 2009. After further alleged harassment and retaliation, Ailes fired her from the morning show in 2013 and reassigned her to an afternoon time slot, she alleged.
According to the complaint:
Doocy engaged in a pattern and practice of severe and pervasive sexual harassment of Carlson, including, but not limited to, mocking her during commercial breaks, shunning her off air, refusing to engage with her on air, belittling her contributions to the show, and generally attempting to put her in her place by refusing to accept and treat her as an intelligent and insightful female journalist rather than a blond female prop.
Ailes called her ‘man hater’ for reporting harassment
When he learned of Carlson’s concerns, Ailes slammed her as a “man hater” and a “killer” and advised her that she’d better learn to “get along with the boys.” He also accused her of trying to “show up the boys” on the show, a likely reference to her co-hosts Doocy and Brian Kilmeade, both of whom still host the show.
Ailes openly ogled Carlson’s body, called her ‘sexy’
Carlson accused Ailes of “ogling” her in his office and asking her to turn around to look at her posterior. He repeatedly commented about Carlson’s legs and her clothing choices, encouraging her to wear clothes that showed off her figure.
At an event, Ailes allegedly bragged to attendees about having slept with three former Miss Americas but not with Carlson, who won the pageant in 1989.
Ailes also allegedly told Carlson she was “sexy” but “too much hard work.”
Ailes said he could make or break Carlson’s career
Ailes had already made it clear he “had the power to make anything happen for her if she listened to him and ‘underst[ood],'” according to the complaint.
As Carlson continued to rebuff Ailes, the network executive responded by slashing her pay to levels “greatly disproportionate” to her male colleagues, pulling her off weekly appearances on the “Culture Warrior” segment of Bill O’Reilly’s highly rated show, and making sure she was assigned fewer of the “hard-hitting political interviews that are coveted by political correspondents,” Carlson alleged.
I can’t believe she would pass up the opportunity to make sweet, sweet love with a sex symbol like Blue Whale Ailes. (Gag)
Wait, I thought Doocy was the blond prop.
Being belittled by the Dooc has got to be the most embarrassing part of this whole thing. Like having your lunch money stolen by the handicapped kid.
When he was with the Washington DC (NBC 4) affiliate he was the reporter that rode the elephant every time the circus came to town.