More Fox Sex Follies

Following on the heels of Gretchen Carlson's suit alleging (!) sexual harassment at the upper levels of Fox "News" =cough= Roger "Jabba the Nut"Ailes =cough=,  former Fox host Andrea Tantaros has filed a sexual harassment suit naming Trump "advisor"Ailes and several other high- profile Foxers:

Former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros claims in an explosive new lawsuit that disgraced ex-network chairman Roger Ailes sexually harassed her and that high-ranking executives fostered a newsroom culture in which abusive behavior flourished.  

“Fox News masquerades as defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny,” the suit reads. 

Ailes was “the primary culprit,” according to the suit, but “his actions were condoned by his most senior lieutenants who engaged in a concerted effort to silence Tantaros by threats, humiliation, and retaliation.” [snip]

In the suit, Tantaros also described host Bill O’Reilly ― who, in 2004, settled a high-profile sexual harassment suit leveled by a former producer ― as once asking her to stay with him at a “very private” place in Long Island and expressing a desire to see her “as a wild girl.” 

And former Massachusetts senator and Fox News contributor Scott Brown made “sexually inappropriate comments” about Tantaros, according to the suit, and once grabbed her waist while she was buying lunch.  (our emphasis)

The full text of the lawsuit is at the link and provides plenty of explicit details on the misogynistic, "sex- fueled" culture of the Republican Party's communication outlet.  These are damaged, rotten people, folks.

Exposing The Sexual Torturers And Enablers At Fox "News"

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.

Republican Sex Blotter: Fox "News" Edition (UPDATED)

It would be fair and balanced to say that Fox "News" stool pile Roger "Jabba The Nut" Ailes is having a bad day (couch turd Steve "The Deuce" Doocy, too):

Former “Fox & Friends” co-host Gretchen Carlson alleged in an explosive lawsuit filed Wednesday that Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes fired her for rebuffing his sexual advances and challenging a sexist newsroom culture.

Carlson, who spent 11 years at the network, described being ostracized and marginalized by Fox News for pushing back against condescending treatment. After seven and a half years as a co-host on “Fox & Friends,” the top-rated cable morning news show, Carlson was reassigned in 2013 to an early afternoon time slot. Fox News terminated her employment on June 23.

In the suit, Carlson claims she tried addressing what she considered to be discriminatory treatment during a September 2015 meeting with Ailes, who allegedly responded that their problems could have been better solved if they had a sexual relationship.

“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,” Ailes told Carlson, according to the suit.  

In the suit, Carlson accused Ailes, one of the most powerful figures in media and Republican politics, of engaging in persistently sexist behavior. She said he ogled her in his office, asked her to turn around to view her backside, and commented repeatedly on her outfits and her legs.

She also said “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy engaged in a “pattern and practice of severe and pervasive sexual harassment” that included “mocking her during commercial breaks, shunning her off air, refusing to engage with her on air, belittling her contributions to the show.” 

Carlson said she complained about Doocy creating a hostile work environment back in September 2009.  (our emphasis)

The lawsuit can be viewed at the link above.

It's not the first time Jabba has been accused of sexual harassment.  New York Magazine writer Gabriel Sherman's biography of Jabba, "The Loudest Voice in the Room," provides some anecdotes of other possible transgressions, as The New York Times reported:

"In one anecdote, a television producer, Randi Harrison, told Mr. Sherman that while negotiating her salary with Mr. Ailes at NBC in the 1980s, he offered her an additional $100 each week 'if you agree to have sex with me whenever I want.'"

This time, it's a high- profile former star of Fox "News" making the allegations in court.  With the already (reportedly) hostile sons of owner Rupert "Aargh" Murdoch overseeing Jabba, this could be their best opportunity to get rid of about 300 pounds of ugly sexist weight.

As a side note, dumping Jabba would also remove leverage that neo- fascist extortionist Donald "Rump" Trump reportedly holds over Jabba, and therefore Fox "News."

UPDATE:  Open the floodgates!

(Image:  Roger Ailes or a close likeness.)