Female Fox News staffers responded furiously to Rupert Murdoch’s suggestion this week that the network’s sexual harassment problem ended with its former chairman Roger Ailes.
Ten staffers spoke anonymously to Huffington Post to share their anger with Murdoch, 86.
Others including Gretchen Carlson, Tamara Holder and Lauren Sivan – who all say they were harassed by Ailes – shared their fury on the record and fumed that Murdoch ‘should know better’.
The women suggested there were more abusers who remain in high positions at the network and threatened to ‘go public with the truth’ unless the billionaire reversed his position.
Murdoch made the enraging remarks during an interview with Sky News about Disney’s $52billion take-over of 20th Century Fox assets.
Asked if allegations of sexual harassment within Fox News hampered the deal in any way, Murdoch responded: ‘It’s all nonsense.
Rupert Murdoch (above with wife Jerry Hall in London on Friday night) has been slammed by female Fox News staffers over his remarks last week about sexual harassment within the news network
Hitting out: Gretchen Carlson (left), who sparked the Fox News sexual harassment scandal with a lawsuit against Ailes in 2016, implored Murdoch to ‘release all women who complained about sexual harassment at Fox News from the secrecy agreements you forced them to sign and let the truth come out’. Lauren Sivan (right), who was harassed by Ailes, echoed her remarks
‘There was a problem with our chief executive, sort of over the years, isolated incidents, as soon as we investigated, he was out the place in hours – well three or four days.
‘There has been nothing else since then.’
He went on to say that while there are ‘really bad cases’, there are others which ‘probably amount to a bit of flirting.’
Murdoch made no mention of Bill O’Reilly, the network’s former star who has paid out $40million to sexual harassment accusers over the last several decades.
21st Century Fox paid almost $45million to settle lawsuits against Ailes.
Murdoch fired O’Reilly in April with the support of his two sons and since then, Fox News’ official line has been that it has cleaned house of any predators.
A Fox News spokesman has since told DailyMail.com he was describing the notion that the accusations had harmed business as ‘nonsense’ and was not talking about the accusations themselves.
‘Rupert never characterized the sexual harassment matters at FOX News as ‘nonsense.’ Rather, he responded negatively to the suggestion that sexual harassment issues were an obstacle to the Company’s bid for the rest of Sky,’ they said.
The 10 women who still work for the network angrily disagreed with Murdoch’s assessment of the problem and questioned why the network paid out so much money to settle the accusations if they were as surmountable as they believed Murdoch suggested in his interview.
Tamara Holder (above) and Lauren Sivan, who both say they were abused and harassed by Ailes, also slammed Murdoch for his remarks
Lauren Sivan, who is among Fox News hosts who said Ailes harassed them, gave her condemnation of Murdoch’s remarks on the record.
‘What kind of company pays close to 100 million dollars to keep “flirting” quiet?’ she said.
She previously told how Ailes made her sit on his lap and insisted on touching her stomach to feel her diaphragm and breathing.
She was also sexually harassed, she claims, by Harvey Weinstein who she says masturbated into a plant pot in front of her.
Tamara Holder, a Fox News contributor, said Murdoch’s remarks set a worrying tone for the rest of the company.
‘You cannot rewrite history, Mr. Murdoch. The problem was not only with your chief executive. For example, one of your former executives trapped me in his office, pulled-out his penis and shoved my head on it. That’s not “nonsense.” That’s criminal.
‘The culture at Fox News won’t change until you publicly accept that it has been a breeding ground for sexual misconduct over the past two decades.’
Gretchen Carlson, whose bombshell lawsuit against Ailes in 2016 triggered his firing and an onslaught of other accusations against him, said: ‘Mr. Murdoch: sexual harassment isn’t “flirting,” “nonsense,” “largely political” or simply “isolated incidents.”
‘I’m calling on you to release all women who complained about sexual harassment at Fox News from the secrecy agreements you forced them to sign and let the truth come out.
‘Let the public decide if the behavior to which women were subjected was “flirting.”
‘Isolated incidents’: Murdoch suggested the only sexual harasser at Fox was Roger Ailes, the ousted chairman who died in May a year after being fired
Another unnamed on-air host echoed her comments, saying: ‘Did this man [Murdoch] just forget the 100 million dollars his company had to pay in settlements for terrible men behaving badly?’
‘He now says it was a bit of “flirting” and an issue related to the fact that Fox News has conservative hosts? Sexual harassment has nothing to do with politics. Many of us are conservative and want the truth to come out.
‘Those of us who still work at Fox News have anxiety issues every time we see another woman coming forward with stories we have all lived through but have never shared.’
A former reporter added: ‘The harassment was persistent and ongoing. It was personally and professionally devastating for some of my colleagues and me.
‘When the person who signs your paycheck and is responsible for promotions and demotions harasses women who rely on him, it’s more than “sort of” a problem.
‘Roger’s circle of advisors laughed off the problem and enabled his behavior to continue for years. Rupert’s dismissal is a crude insult to women. He should know better.’
A separate woman said: ‘I have had to put up with a hostile work environment for years, and now I’m told that it doesn’t exist by a man who doesn’t have to walk these halls every day? I’m hungry for justice,’ said one.
Murdoch made no mention of Bill O’Reilly, the former star host who he fired in April after the millions of dollars paid out in settlements to his own accusers were revealed
In this letter to staff, Murdoch and his sons announced O’Reilly’s firing which was prompted by allegations against him
Another fumed: ‘Hey Rupert – stop with the lies or we’ll go public with the truth. All of it. Including about the talent and executives you still employ who have harassed us and don’t give a damn about workplace respect – only money.
‘How much will it take before you actually start caring about your female employees? Is your 52 billion enough? Are we really going to clean house now?’
All of the women were described by Huffington Post reporter Yashar Ali as ‘on-air talent’.
One said she was planning to speak to a lawyer in light of his remarks.
‘I’m contacting a lawyer tomorrow. I’m sick of this s***,’ she said.
Ailes was forced to resign in June 2016 after Carlson filed a lawsuit against him.
It triggered an internal investigation which prompted the reports of several other women who all said he had harassed them.
Ailes died in May this year, almost a year after being ousted.