Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson has a credibility problem.
The 50-year-old former Miss America filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her former boss, Roger Ailes, claiming he sexually harassed her for years.
Carlson says she endured the 76-year-old Ailes’ sexual advances since 2005, yet she didn’t speak out until she was fired in June.
Carlson, who co-hosted the “Fox & Friends” morning news program, was let go on June 23 when her contract expired.
In court documents, Carlson accuses Ailes of “unlawfully” retaliating against her when she refused his sexual advances.
“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,” Carlson quoted Ailes in the Complaint.
She also said he asked to see her undergarments and asked if she was single. Yet Carlson cheerfully worked at Fox News for 11 years.
Ailes, who is Fox network’s founder, chairman and CEO, vigorously denies the allegations.
Ailes and Carlson are both married to other people.
The Complaint also names Fox News on-air personality Steve Doocy, who is accused of regularly engaging in “a pattern of severe and pervasive mistreatment” of Carlson, such as belittling her during commercial breaks.
She said Ailes dismissed her complaints about Doocy by telling her not to get offended “so goddamn easy about everything.”
She also claims Ailes called her a “man hater” and told her she needed “to get along with the boys.”
The Washington Post notes that Carlson “doesn’t mention any instances of harassment in her 2015 memoir, ‘Getting Real.’
Fox News’ parent company, 21st Century Fox, issued a statement Wednesday defending Ailes and Doocy.
The statement reads:
“The Company has seen the allegations against Mr. Ailes and Mr. Doocy. We take these matters seriously. While we have full confidence in Mr. Ailes and Mr. Doocy, who have served the company brilliantly for over two decades, we have commenced an internal review of the matter.”
CNN reports that several disgruntled female former employees have come forward with accusations of sexual harassment against Ailes.
But like Carlson, none of them spoke out previously.
