Roger Ailes: Decline and Fall
September 22, 2016 5:15 PM   Subscribe

A quite detailed look at the last days of Ailes at Fox News: Interesting look from several points of view, with interesting sidelights (Gretchen Carlson was gathering evidence for a year, recording some phone conversations with Ailes). It explains in part why Gretchen Carlson sued Ailes but not Fox News (it prevented him from using the huge apparatus he constructed). Also, Rudi Giuliani and Trump stick their nose in.
posted by OurOwnMrK (26 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'll say, right up front, that illustration of Mr. Ailes is too flattering. What a wretched, over filled, greedy creature he is, with no redeeming character traits at all. He sets the low bar, that makes it easy for the sleazy to cross.
posted by Oyéah at 6:06 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


The big surprise for me in all of this is Susan Estrich's involvement.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:14 PM on September 22, 2016 [2 favorites]


Estrich is clearly delusional:
Estrich says she understands the reaction but frames the matter as both an act of professional responsibility and personal loyalty to a friend for the past 28 years.

“The man described by the media is simply not the man I know,” she wrote in an exchange of emails last week. “I don’t think anyone in the business has done more to promote the careers of women than Roger.”
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:21 PM on September 22, 2016 [2 favorites]


I just don't get how Ailes managed to leave with a $40-million payout. Sure, per the article half that was compensation/pay due/bonuses previously earned, but that other half, the $20-million in what, go-away-quietly money? Any normal person that got their company in far less trouble, they'd get fired and shoved out the door with nothing more than what's already in their pockets; but somehow dudes at the top get paid to be not-fired.
posted by easily confused at 6:35 PM on September 22, 2016 [4 favorites]


It would have cost Fox more to attempt to get out of the contractual $20m severance (in fees plus bad news for many cycles).
posted by zippy at 6:40 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


... as the contract apparently included "for cause" severance.
posted by zippy at 6:42 PM on September 22, 2016 [3 favorites]


> I'll say, right up front, that illustration of Mr. Ailes is too flattering. What a wretched, over filled, greedy creature he is, with no redeeming character traits at all. He sets the low bar, that makes it easy for the sleazy to cross.

Also Salacious B. Crumb should be chillin' in his bellybutton.
posted by guiseroom at 6:47 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


I mean

there is PLENTY to criticize about Ailes without jumping straight to making fun of his appearance

hell, doing so suggests that his actions are comparatively less reprehensible, that they are not the primary focus here
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:59 PM on September 22, 2016 [12 favorites]


> $20-million in what, go-away-quietly money?

I heard on, I think, NPR that part of the deal was he's not allowed to start another TV company ever ? Presume he would have had some sort of no-complete clause but perhaps one that only lasted a few years ?
posted by southof40 at 7:00 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


"making fun of his appearance" His appearance is a part of his power dynamic, he expects women to be perfect, and to serve his libido and need for power, regardless of what he personally brings to the situation. His appearance has a lot to do with the dynamic of domination. It is not to be ignored.
posted by Oyéah at 7:09 PM on September 22, 2016 [10 favorites]


You can't enforce noncompetes in a lot of states, depending upon a variety of factors. California, you can get fired from a company and directly compete with it with your own company the day after.

I think this person is a waste of space but it is indeed because of his actions, not his appearance, no matter how bad it is. Plenty of worse-looking people do better for the world.
posted by hleehowon at 7:10 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Neo-Goebbels belongs in prison. He's not even on the sex offender registry, where I have no doubt he belongs. Meanwhile there's a death sentence for being black, no trial.

Rich White Man.
posted by adept256 at 7:19 PM on September 22, 2016 [8 favorites]


My one consolation is that Ailes is so clearly consumed by paranoia and anger that he will never really enjoy the wealth he has accumulated.


I hope that this makes him unfit to go out in public, or at least makes his presence objectionable to so many that he's left to just sit there in that big fucking house thinking about his enemies, as his rage and ill-will slowly eats him up inside.


Of course, when he wants to he can probably just fuck off to Thailand or Latvia or some place.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:58 PM on September 22, 2016 [2 favorites]


Latvia has more blondes
posted by adept256 at 8:08 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


"Latvia or some place" What did Latvia ever do to deserve that? I mean they will have to let out their seams. As far as Thailand goes, he could get a job, cleaning out the bottom of some river.

For whatever reason this individual, for me, has become a symbol of the hateful things women and men face when they go to work. Mom lets her kids off at school, and then goes to hell, so she can fill their lunchboxes and clothe them, smiling all the while. It is that shadow that passes over the scene while trying to keep cheerful.

You might say well these women want to play with the big boys, so they should take what comes. But no, they want to work for what ever reason they do, and taking care of infantile jerks who achieve high success because they are just that, pandering to others like them, is a part of the basic form of some corporations. Mr. Ailes is successful because he is a part of a group of men in a certain echelon, who constantly one up each other, and they are absolutely pampered for it, showered with money. He made the Fox News monster, in his own image. I am glad he came down from his pedestal.
posted by Oyéah at 8:11 PM on September 22, 2016 [3 favorites]


but somehow dudes at the top get paid to be not-fired.

It's keep your fucking mouth shut money.
posted by srboisvert at 8:28 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


What I don't understand about this article is -- who gave all this information to the press, and for what purpose? One of the meetings described seemed to be only a lawyer and the two Murdoch sons, so -- one of them, right? If it's not already clear, I find myself very suspicious of the motivations behind this.
posted by ourobouros at 9:33 PM on September 22, 2016 [3 favorites]


I hope that this makes him unfit to go out in public, or at least makes his presence objectionable to so many that he's left to just sit there in that big fucking house thinking about his enemies, as his rage and ill-will slowly eats him up inside.

Of course, when he wants to he can probably just fuck off to Thailand or Latvia or some place.
--TheWhiteSkull


Unfortunately, he's found a place where his presence isn't objectionable.
posted by eye of newt at 9:41 PM on September 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Latvia? Thailand? Ailes has always struck me as more of a Belarus guy. Or Central African Republic.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 5:50 AM on September 23, 2016


I'd appreciate it if we stop the "which non American country is bad enough/aligns morally with ailes to deserve this awful human being" derail.
posted by Karaage at 5:56 AM on September 23, 2016 [8 favorites]


It's very hard to remain dispassionate about Ailes and not think of him as a real life Emperor Palpatine or whatever. But he's in his mid-70s, apparently not in the best of health, and I hope in the time he has left he learns to recognize the damage he has caused and attempts to repair some of it. He seems to be driven by a lot of bad things and that's unfortunate.

Honestly though, I'm pretty doubtful that it's going happen.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 7:04 AM on September 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


"several of the women had recorded conversations with Ailes" I do and don't wanna hear these..
posted by judson at 7:34 AM on September 23, 2016


My favorite part of the tale:

(Estrich) decided to send the statement to Matt Drudge, who would be sure to post it on the Drudge Report. But when Estrich attempted to e-mail the file that contained the positive comments by Kelly, she inadvertently attached the file that included the draft separation agreement announcing that Ailes would be leaving Fox News with a payout of $40 million.

With "friends" like that, who needs hackers.
posted by Fupped Duck at 10:39 AM on September 23, 2016


There are a lot of people who don't come off great in this story (Ailes, obviously, Van Susteren and the other Fox personalities who tried to martial everyone to his defense, Fox news as a whole), but Estrich is the one I just can't understand.

How do you go from this:

Estrich, a rape survivor, who told me she has spent her career defending women against sexual abuse and harassment,

To this:

[Estrich] insisted, “many of the complaints I was reading about in the press don’t amount to sexual harassment.” Even if those reports were true, “tacky behavior, inappropriate behavior, overtures you’d prefer not to have—that is not sexual harassment. We are not talking about creating a workplace where women cannot comfortably advance and do their jobs.”

How can it not be sexual harassment when someone who is not just an employee, but the person in charge, especially of a mega corporation like Fox, is saying these kinds of things to female employees? I don't know the exact legal definition of sexual harassment, but it's very surprising to hear that someone with Estrich's feminist background would brush aside unwanted overtures, especially with such a huge power differential, and inappropriate comments about employees appearances as no big deal.

The whole thing makes me feel sick and angry, because of all the people who must have been complicit throughout Ailes's career and who were willing to defend him after the suit. It's a shame that the larger cultural issues at Fox News will probably be left unexamined. Still, I give a lot of credit to Gretchen Carlson for spearheading this whole thing. All things considered, it seems to have been about as good an outcome as one could have hoped for with the suit, but it could have also turned very ugly. I'm sure Carlson must have known the risk she took in filing the suit, so good for her for going through with it, not just for her sake, but for all the other women at Fox News who had been and would have continued to be victimized by Ailes.

Good riddance, Roger Ailes.
posted by litera scripta manet at 11:11 AM on September 23, 2016 [3 favorites]


As ouroborous points out, Fox played journalists to ensure that Ailes got not a single drop of sympathy. For example, I'm sure that the leak of the severance package was a complete "accident".

The man is a human shitstain, but the public still deserves better journalism.
posted by monotreme at 9:11 PM on September 23, 2016


I claimed earlier Ailes had "for cause" severance in his employment agreement, but after reading some news sources claiming otherwise I tracked down the 2008 SEC filing with his employment agreement. (no doubt there are changes between 2008 and 2016, but I have limited net access at the moment)

Things he gets even if fired for cause (including felonious behavior and moral turpitude): all his salary and stock earned up to the point of termination, and:

- full health, dental, and vision coverage for life
- his pension

(if I'm reading clauses 7(c)i - 7(c)iii and 4(a) correctly).

I assume the negotiated settlement was a compromise where they gave him much more than those items in exchange for not having to prove (or wait for someone else to prove) the items leading to a for cause decision, and who knows, maybe Ailes taking other key figures in a years-long legal battle.

The Murdocks get to move on, possibly containing the dumpster fire, and Ailes gets to be a political player – win win ... lose! as another generation of women see workplace abusers getting handsomely rewarded by their mutual employers.
posted by zippy at 8:22 PM on September 24, 2016


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