UPDATE #13: Rupert Murdoch-owned NY Post says “end is near” for Ailes.
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UPDATE #12: NYT media columnist with a cryptic statement from Megyn Kelly’s lawyer:
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UPDATE #11: Could the negotiations drag on not from the terms of the agreement but the terms of the announcement?
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UPDATE #10: Two updates on Drudge’s leaked agreement from Byers & Sherman:
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UPDATE #9: Hollywood Reporter gets Ailes’ lawyer on the record. Re: Drudge’s “parachute” document: “there are lots of drafts going around.”
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UPDATE #8: Ann Coulter has some morbid fun with the story, talking to Huffington Post:
Coulter has never been employed by Fox News, but has been a familiar face on the network as a fiery commentator. The author said recently that she has heard about allegations against Ailes in the past, even as some of the network’s biggest stars were defending the embattled media executive.
“I noticed the people who’ve been saying ‘he never sexually harassed me’ also, by the way, work for Fox News, which was such a weird coincidence,” Coulter told HuffPost.
Some women working at Fox News recently told HuffPost that they had faced harassment similar to that described by Carlson.
Coulter also took a jab at Kelly who, so far, has publicly been silent on the recent allegations from Carlson and a half dozen other women. Last fall, Kelly described Ailes as a “mentor” who has been “nothing but good to me, and he’s been very loyal and he’s had my back.”
“I guess she waited for him to be out before she spoke up,” Coulter said, adding that it was “very brave of Megyn to wait until the last moment.”
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UPDATE #7: Sherman throws water on Drudge headline:
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UPDATE #6: New from Drudge. “EXCLUSIVE: ‘FOX & FRIENDS’ AND ‘THE FIVE’ ANCHORS, GRETA, O’REILLY, HANNITY SET TALENT MEETING TO DISCUSS WALKING OUT ON NEWS NETWORK… DEVELOPING…”
Gabe Sherman has been tweeting salacious tidbits as well:
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UPDATE #5: New Drudge headline, on Megyn Kelly — “EXCLUSIVE: HER SEX COMPLAINT? IN 2006, SHE DID NOT LIKE THE WAY HE HUGGED HER, SOURCE CLAIMS…”
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UPDATE #4: CNN’s Dylan Byers reports that Rupert Murdoch will be in New York City next week. “The negotiations could conclude as early as Tuesday night, but may take longer, according to [Byers’] source.”
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UPDATE #3: New York Times reports: “Roger Ailes and 21st Century Fox are in the advanced stages of discussions that would lead to the departure of Mr. Ailes as chairman of Fox News Channel, a person briefed on the discussions said on Tuesday.”
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UPDATE #2: Statement from 21st Century Fox: “Roger is at work. The review is ongoing. The only agreement that is in place is his existing employment agreement.”
The Daily Beast writes: “Fox initially confirmed Drudge’s report to The Daily Beast, and subsequently walked back that confirmation.”
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UPDATE: Matt Drudge has deleted his message showing the purported agreement for Ailes’ departure.
The Drudge Report now displays a statement from the network: “Roger Ailes has never sexually harassed Megyn Kelly. In fact, he has spent much of the last decade promoting and helping her to achieve the stardom she earned, for which she has repeatedly and publicly thanked him.”
Variety is independently reporting Ailes’ departure, with an anonymous source claiming an “official announcement” is “imminent.”
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Original story begins here:
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Matt Drudge, the founder of the online news hub Drudge Report, broke news that Fox News CEO Roger Ailes has reached an agreement to leave his position for compensation totaling more than 40 million dollars.
Drudge posted a photo on Twitter of a page from the apparent agreement, which declares July 22nd Ailes’ last day and sets up salary/bonus payments.
21st Century Fox Co-Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch, along with his sons James and Lachlan, are pushing Ailes out of his position as Fox investigates charges of sexual harassment from a lawsuit filed by former anchor Gretchen Carlson, according to Gabriel Sherman reporting in New York magazine.
Sherman reported Tuesday that primetime anchor Megyn Kelly told Fox’s investigators that Ailes sexually harassed her early in her career:
According to two sources briefed on parent company 21st Century Fox’s outside probe of the Fox News executive, led by New York–based law firm Paul, Weiss, Kelly has told investigators that Ailes made unwanted sexual advances toward her about ten years ago when she was a young correspondent at Fox. Kelly, according to the sources, has described her harassment by Ailes in detail.
Kelly’s comments to investigators might explain why the Murdochs are moving so quickly to oust Ailes. As New York reported yesterday, Rupert and sons James and Lachlan, the three top executives at 21st Century Fox, have, according to multiple sources, decided that Ailes needs to be removed.
Several big names at Fox News Channel, including Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, would have the option to jump ship along with Ailes, according to the Financial Times.