Fox News Legal Affairs Chief Takes Voluntary Leave of Absence

By Chris Ariens 

Fox News general counsel Dianne Brandi is taking “a voluntary leave” of absence, Fox News said.

Brandi, a trusted aide of former Fox News chief, the late Roger Ailes, has found herself at the center of many of the legal battles Fox has faced in the last 15 months.

As head of legal and business affairs Brandi was charged with overseeing internal investigations of workplace harassment over the years. (This was before the explosive allegations made by former anchor Gretchen Carlson, investigated by an outside law firm, which led to the ouster of Ailes in July, 2016.)

Advertisement

Some of those internal investigations later resulted in lawsuits with accusers claiming Brandi didn’t do enough to investigate their claims. That includes a racial discrimination suit joined by anchor Kelly Wright which had been first filed by other African American employees, as well as the accusations leveled by former The Five co-host Andrea Tantaros.

Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman was first to report Brandi’s leave of absence.

Advertisement