Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed the sexual harassment lawsuit against late Fox News chairman Roger Ailes that sent shock waves through the media industry two years ago today. Ailes resigned from Fox News just two weeks after the lawsuit was filed, and Carlson would earn a $20 million settlement and a public apology from 21CF in September 2016.
It’s an ordeal that changed Fox News, and really set in motion an avalanche that has led to more than a dozen lawsuits, the revelation of millions of dollars in settlements, and has cost the jobs of top media execs and on-air talent, including Carlson’s former Fox News colleagues Bill O’Reilly and Bill Shine in the spring of 2017 (though Shine was never accused of harassment himself).
In the years since, FNC hired a new head of HR, created a mentoring program, installed new leadership and built a new newsroom/studios.
Since Carlson’s departure from Fox News two years ago, she has received a number of honors for her work as a prominent force in the #MeToo movement, and was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2017. She’s the chairwoman of the Miss America Organization, and is also developing and hosting a slew of docuseries for Lifetime.
Speaking of former Fox Newsers, Carlson noted the two-year anniversary of her lawsuit against Ailes in response to the White House hiring former Fox News co-president Bill Shine as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for communications. She’s not particularly enthused about the hire.
This …. on the 2 year anniversary eve of filing my harassment lawsuit; giving women a voice, letting them know you can be believed, launching a national movement to stand up and speak up and say enough is enough. Life … works in mysterious ways. #BeFierce https://t.co/Sc5bBVB2xL
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) July 5, 2018
Carlson also had some choice words for Shine’s wife, Darla, as her husband becomes part of the Trump administration. Darla Shine has attacked harassment accusers in the past:
Oh and Darla got to spew crap about me without any repercussions but women who are harassed and forced into secret arbitration or settlements can’t say s—-. Go figure https://t.co/Ka6eVJAhOu
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) July 6, 2018
Megyn Kelly had some thoughts about Mrs. Shine as well:
To Darla Shine – yes, it was indeed an “awkward hug” between me (then a 2d year reporter) & my then-boss, the CEO Ailes, especially when in his locked office he tried to make out w/me & then demanded to know when my contract was up after I shoved him off. https://t.co/7aqJjTk7DZ
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) July 6, 2018