Gabriel Sherman continues his pursuit of the despicable Roger "Jabba the Nut" Ailes and others at Fox "News" who enabled Jabba's perverse sexual pursuits over the last two decades. It's an eye- popping look at the ugly, seedy culture that persists to this day at this propaganda arm of the Republican Party. Here are a few snippets (skipping over the smarmy details of the harassment):
The morning after Fox News chief Roger Ailes resigned, the cable network’s former director of booking placed a call to the New York law firm hired by 21st Century Fox to investigate sexual-harassment allegations against Ailes. Laurie Luhn told the lawyers at Paul, Weiss that she had been harassed by Ailes for more than 20 years, that executives at Fox News had known about it and helped cover it up, and that it had ruined her life. “It was psychological torture,” she later told me. [snip]
In late 2010 or early 2011, Luhn said, she wrote a letter to Fox lawyer Dianne Brandi saying she had been sexually harassed by Ailes for 20 years. Brandi did not acknowledge receipt of the letter, but, according to a source, she asked Ailes about the sexual-harassment allegations, which he vehemently denied. Ailes, according to the source, told Brandi to work out a settlement. Luhn hired an attorney to negotiate her exit from Fox.Luhn settled with Fox for $3.15 million, with accompanying extensive nondisclosure agreements.
There's so much to digest in Sherman's reporting that you should really try to read the whole piece. For example, in addition to Dianne Brandi's role in protecting Jabba, Fox executive and possible Jabba successor Bill Shine was also reported to be an active enabler of the harassment and cover up.
Think of this for a moment: beyond what Jon Stewart aptly called the "bullshit mountain" that is Fox's on- air identity, there's a behind- the- scenes culture that is as corrupt and perverted as what you see on- air. This is as vile an organization as exists in America today, and no amount of "house cleaning" is going to remove the stench and stain.
