After Roger Ailes was finally ousted from Fox News in 2016 for his long history of sexual harassment and assault, Brian Stelter asked former Fox host and current CNN colleague Alisyn Camerota if Fox was “rotten to its core.”
“I said something like, ‘No, it’s not rotten to the core, there are good people there just trying to do their jobs,’” Camerota told Stelter Tuesday morning on CNN’s New Day. “I’d like to amend my answer now, if I may. Because given everything that has come out since then, I guess it is rotten to the core. I guess even though there are really good people there who are trying to do their jobs, it’s not enough. Because unless you get rid of and stamp out the predators, then of course the culture is still going to be rotten.”
Camerota, who has outlined the harassment she faced personally from Ailes, made her comments during a discussion of the latest sexual misconduct scandal to hit the conservative outlet—this one centered around the recently fired Ed Henry. Fox News stars Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and others are also named in the new lawsuit.
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“And didn’t they know this?” Camerota asked. “When that outside law firm Paul Wise did their investigation back in 2016, didn't Ed Henry’s name come up? Didn’t they know things about Ed Henry and yet they promoted him and doesn’t that tell us all we need to know about the culture?”
Stelter confirmed that “warnings” about Henry were known to the network brass and he was “promoted anyway” because he was a “rising star” and a “favorite” of the network’s CEO Suzanne Scott. “It is incredible to think that four years after Ailes was forced out this is still going on at Fox News,” he said.
Asked if anything about the Ed Henry story surprises her, Camerota said, “Sexual harassment doesn’t surprise me, sexual misconduct doesn’t, but the violent rape? Yeah, I’m still surprised by things like that. I’m still surprised by reports of trying to turn somebody into a ‘sex slave’ and then claiming it’s consensual.”
“The stuff in the complaint is so dark and vile that yes, I can still be shocked by these things,” she added. “But I’m sad actually. I’m sad that four years after Roger Ailes was gone that the young women there feel like they’re still having to operate in this culture.”
