Carlson Challenges Fox's Ailes to Testify Under Oath About Alleged Sexual Harassment
Gretchen Carlson's team struck back at Roger Ailes on Friday, challenging the longtime chairman of the Fox News Channel, a division of 21st Century Fox (FOXA) - Get Report , to deny her allegations of sexual harassment in a court of law.
In what is becoming an escalating war of words, Carlson's team, in an emailed statement, said of Ailes that "we challenge him to deny, under oath, that he made the statements attributed to him in the Complaint."
Carlson rocked the media industry and much of the political establishment this week when she filed a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court alleging Ailes "sabotaged her career because she refused his sexual advances and complained about severe and pervasive sexual harassment."
The suit claims that when Carlson met with Ailes in the fall of 2015 to discuss what she described as repeated sexist comments made to her or in her presence, the Fox News CEO was said to say that, "I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better," adding that "sometimes problems are easier to solve" that way.
Hours after Carlson's lawsuit was filed in Wednesday, Ailes issued his own statement, a blistering condemnation calling his former anchor's allegations "false," while adding that her "defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive, it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously."
On Friday Carlson disputed Ailes' contention that Fox News had sufficiently supported her when she was moved off of Fox & Friends in 2013 and given her own show, The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson, in a less popular time slot. Carlson said her compensation was also cut as a result.
"After her firing from Fox and Friends for complaining about discrimination, Gretchen was moved to a challenging time slot and denied support and promotion," read the statement released by a public relations group representing Carlson as well as Smith Mullin, the New Jersey law firm that has taken her case. "Despite this, she succeeded and was the number one cable news show in her time slot in total viewers."
Carlson's team maintains that despite scant support from Ailes in the form of marketing and other promotion, viewership of her show increased 33% from the beginning of 2016 through her final shows in mid-June.
Regarding Carlson's years at the network, Ailes said on Wednesday that Fox News had "provided her with more on-air opportunities over her 11-year tenure than any other employer in the industry."
In a final dig, Carlson countered comments from Fox News and Ailes this week that Carlson had frequently complimented her former boss and expressed appreciation for her former boss in her autobiography and in personal notes.
"Ailes does not allow his employees to speak to the press or publish anything without prior approval," the statement said. "Gretchen was chastised for answering a question from a hometown newspaper about her favorite Minnesota State Fair food. In her book, Gretchen told her story while trying to keep her job -- knowing that Ailes had to approve what she said."