Megyn Kelly says that women at Fox News were working in a climate of fear under alleged harasser Roger Ailes and that the late CEO told her early in her career that she needed to ‘sleep her way to the top.’
The NBC host says that working at Fox News under Ailes ‘was like being in North Korea and trying to criticize Kim Jong-un.’
The former host of The Kelly File says she had a difficult time during her early years at Fox News after Ailes, the late CEO, allegedly harassed her because she had no one to confide to at work.
‘Early on in my tenure at Fox when I was being harassed by Ailes, I didn’t know a lot of people,’ Kelly told Deadline.
‘I didn’t have a lot of female friends like I did 13 years later. I did have a couple and so I would sort of stick the toe in the water with the women I knew because he was the king.’
When Kelly tried to suss out if other women at Fox News also experienced similar harassment at the hands of Ailes, she said they denied any such harassment took place – only to come out later and accuse the CEO of just that.
Megyn Kelly (seen on Tuesday in New York) says that working for the late Roger Ailes at Fox News ‘was like being in North Korea and trying to criticize Kim Jong-un’
‘I’d carefully stick my toe in the water with other women like, “have you ever been in his office by yourself?” “Have you ever sensed an odd vibe?”
‘There was one woman in particular, the one I knew best, who I asked that of.
She said, “Absolutely not, he’s only been completely professional with me… She turned out to be one of his accusers.
‘I read something about the Ginger Rogers quote. She had to do everything Fred Astaire did but backwards and in heels.
‘I read something that said something like backwards and in heels and with him trying to shove his tongue down her throat and grab her ass.’
At the start of her career at Fox News, Kelly recalled being dejected after she was summoned to Ailes’ office for what she thought was a meeting about how hard she was working and her future prospects.
‘I work for Brit Hume in the DC bureau and the first year goes brilliantly,’ she says.
‘The second year is going brilliantly and I’m getting great assignments and I am making my bones. I’m doing it. I’m proving myself… And then you get a call to go meet with the big boss in New York and you think this is it. He’s noticed me.
The former host of The Kelly File says she had a difficult time during her early years at Fox News after Ailes allegedly harassed her because she had no one to confide to at work
‘”I’ve caught the attention of Mr. Ailes,” was the exact quote from Brit Hume to me.
‘You go up there wide-eyed at the possibility of what your life might be thanks to your hard work.
‘You’re in there and by nature you want to try and charm your boss.
‘That is true of all of us male or female, and then there’s a moment in the meeting where it turned.
‘Before you know it this person is talking to you in a way that is very familiar to you but shouldn’t be in the office setting.
He’s lecturing you about how your very favorite anchor in the television industry slept her way to the top. ‘”She was smart,” he says. “Hopefully you’ll be smart too,” he says.
Megyn Kelly describes a conversation with Roger Ailes
‘He’s lecturing you about how your very favorite anchor in the television industry slept her way to the top.
‘”She was smart,” he says. “Hopefully you’ll be smart too,” he says.
‘I thought I was being called up here for opportunity. I thought my hard work had been recognized.
‘I thought this was a career trajectory kind of moment. Instead I’m looking at a dirty old man who wants to get in my pants.’
Ailes, 77, died from bleeding on the brain caused by a fall last spring at his home in Florida.
His departure from Fox News in July amid a sexual harassment scandal abruptly ended his 20-year reign at the cable channel that helped reshape American politics with conservative-leaning hosts such as Bill O‘Reilly and Sean Hannity.
Former anchor Andrea Tantaros and contributor Julie Roginsky have claimed in lawsuits that Ailes harassed them and that Fox News retaliated against them for rebuffing him.
Kelly’s coverage of the recent sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein and others in Hollywood and in the media has fueled a surge in ratings for her NBC morning show
Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson was the first to accuse Ailes of harassment.
Her lawsuit against Fox News last July started a chain of women coming forward to claim sexual harrassment and led to Ailes resigning in disgrace.
Since the rash of sexual assault allegations that have been made by hundreds of women against powerful male figures in the entertainment and media industries, Kelly has enjoyed a surge in the ratings for her NBC morning show Megyn Kelly Today.
During the week of October 23, her show’s viewership jumped 10 percent, according to The Blaze.
This is welcome news for Kelly, whose show has produced abysmal ratings in its first few weeks.
The recent shows have featured segments on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, accusations against journalist Mark Halperin, and the Bill O’Reilly saga.
It was learned that O’Reilly paid a massive $32million settlement to a woman who complained about sexual harassment.
In total, O’Reilly paid $45million to six different women who came forward and accused him of sexual misconduct.