Former host sues Fox claiming sexual harassment, retaliation

Associated Press

NEW YORK

A former Fox News host has sued the network, its ousted chairman and other top executives, claiming they retaliated after she detailed unwanted sexual advances made by her onetime boss, Roger Ailes, a Warren native.

Andrea Tantaros described Fox in the lawsuit, filed Monday in New York, as a “sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult.” She said after she complained last spring about Ailes, one of his top deputies, William Shine, warned her that Ailes was a “very powerful man” and that she “needed to let this one go.”

Shine was promoted to co-president of Fox News after Ailes resigned last month amid other allegations of sexual harassment.

Ailes “may have been the primary culprit, but his actions were condoned by most senior lieutenants, who engaged in a concerted effort to silence Tantaros by threats, humiliation, and retaliation,” the lawsuit said.

The network said Tuesday that it can’t comment on pending litigation.

Ailes resigned in July after another former anchor, Gretchen Carlson, said in a lawsuit that she was fired for refusing his sexual advances. He has denied the accusations.

Since then, other women have come forward alleging they were sexually harassed while at the network.

New York magazine reported that a former booker for the network, Laurie Luhn, alleged that she’d been sexually harassed by Ailes over a period of 20 years.

Tantaros claims she also endured unwanted attention from others at Fox’s New York City studios, including Former Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Fox host Bill O’Reilly.