Roger Ailes ‘In a War For Control Of His Own Legacy’? Fox News Responds

By Alex Weprin 

Politico’s Dylan Byers has an item today about dueling memoirs focusing on Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, and the birth of Fox News. As we have reported, Zev Chafets is apparently working with Ailes on an authorized book about the origins of Fox News, while New York‘s Gabriel Sherman is writing a book without FNC’s cooperation.

Byers writes that “with his career heading toward its twilight, Ailes is in a war for control of his own legacy,” and argues that Sherman has been maligned for his work.

In a statement to TVNewser, Brian Lewis, the executive VP of corporate communications and senior advisor to the chairman of Fox Television Stations and Fox News, says that the story is faulty.

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“The basic premise of the story is inaccurate,” Lewis says. “Roger is not in a ‘war’ with anyone and has stated several times that he is not overly concerned with his legacy. Dylan’s reliance on unnamed sources mirrors the technique that Gabe Sherman has used throughout this process to craft a narrative that simply isn’t true.”

In an interview with TVNewser last November (which Byers mentioned in his item), Ailes said as much.

“I don’t care about my legacy,” Ailes says. “It’s too late. My enemies will create it and they’ll push it.

 

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