Fox News anchor Shepard Smith says the scandal that saw the swift exit of FNC chairman Roger Ailes was a painful experience to witness.
“I loved him like a father,” Smith tells The Huffington Post. “I trusted him with my career and with ― I trusted him and trusts were betrayed. People outside this company can’t know [how painful that betrayal was]. This place has its enemies, but inside, it was very personal, and very scarring and horrifying.”
But Smith says reports Ailes prevented him from publicly discussing his sexuality, as was reported two years ago was “not true. He was as nice as he could be to me.”
Smith says the new leadership under Rupert Murdoch has promised to hire more journalists and reinforce FNC’s news gathering resources. “When the biggest boss, who controls everything, comes and says ‘That’s what I want to do,’ that’s the greatest news I’ve heard in years. And he didn’t mention one thing about our opinion side.”