Roger Ailes apparently on way out at Fox News
Los Angeles Times (TNS)
NEW YORK
Warren native Roger Ailes appears to be close to leaving his post as chairman and chief executive of Fox News in the wake of sexual harassment charges made against him.
Fox News parent 21st Century Fox issued a statement late Tuesday that said Ailes, a 1958 graduate of Warren G. Harding High School, is still employed by the company. “Roger is at work,” the statement said. “The review is ongoing. And the only agreement that is in place is his existing employment agreement.”
However, a person close to several of the personalities at Fox News believed it was a matter of time before Ailes steps down.
Word had circulated among TV news industry business that Bill Shine, a longtime lieutenant of Ailes, has returned to New York from Cleveland where Fox News is covering the Republican National Convention. Shine is considered a leading candidate to step in for Ailes.
Ailes’ imminent departure comes two weeks after former anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation for her complaining about a hostile work environment.
His exit would be a stunning sudden end to the career of one of the most powerful executives in the media business who left a major influence on the television landscape.
After Carlson’s suit was filed, 21st Century Fox brought in a law firm to review her allegations and talked with other employees about Ailes’ behavior. The review led to reports that others gave accounts of alleged sexual harassment by Ailes.
Ailes has denied all of the allegations made against him. Ailes’ attorney Susan Estrich also issued a statement rebutting a report that Fox News Channel’s star anchor Megyn Kelly had given an account of being sexually harassed by Ailes early in her 12-year career at the company.
“Roger Ailes has never sexually harassed Megyn Kelly,” Estrich said. “In fact, he has spent much of the last decade promoting and helping her to achieve the stardom she earned, for which she has repeatedly and publicly thanked him.”
After attending Ohio University, Ailes joined the Cleveland-based “The Mike Douglas Show” in 1961 and moved with the show to Philadelphia.
While working on “The Mike Douglas Show” in 1968 in Philadelphia, Ailes met future president Richard Nixon. He went on to be a television adviser for future Republican presidents Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. In 1996, Ailes was hired by Australian media giant Robert Murdock to launch Fox News, an empire that Sherman calls “The Biggest Voice in the Room.”
Ailes talked about his Warren roots to Vindicator reporter Ed Runyan in 2008 while visiting the city to attend the dedication of the Trumbull County Veterans Memorial downtown.
“In my travels over the years, I’ve always taken Ohio with me. Everywhere I’ve traveled, I’ve taken the traditions ... the values I’ve learned in this town [Warren]. It’s a part of everything I’ve done, including Fox News,” Ailes told Runyan.