The true story of Bombshell
A year before the Harvey Weinstein story shook up Hollywood, a different sexual scandal gripped the US media: the toppling of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. Brought to life this month on screen by Margot Robbie, Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman, here’s the truth behind the blockbuster
1. WHO WAS ROGER AILES?
Roger Ailes (played by John Lithgow, right) started his career as a Republican political consultant, supporting Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Bush in the ’60s. Rupert Murdoch spotted Ailes’ influence, hiring him to launch Fox News in 1996 – a move that The New York Times says led to the network having “an average daily viewership of two million – more than CNN and the left-leaning MSNBC combined”.
Ailes reportedly received an annual salary of $20 million (around £15.5 million) during his 20-year tenure at Fox News, and was said to have advised the Trump presidential campaign. Following his resignation in 2016, Ailes, who had haemophilia, died of bleeding on the brain in 2017, aged 77.
2. GRETCHEN CARLSON CLAIMS:
Sexual assault allegations against Ailes first came to light in Gabriel Sherman’s 2014 biography about him, The Loudest Voice In The Room, in which a female producer claims he offered her a pay rise if she agreed to have sex with him whenever he pleased. The account spurred Gretchen Carlson (played by Kidman, right) to file a sexual harassment lawsuit in July 2016, detailing the “severe and pervasive sexual harassment” she endured, claiming Ailes encouraged her to wear certain things, often asking her to turn around so he could “view her posterior”. After complaining of “sexist and condescending behaviour” from co-host Steve Doocy, Carlson claims Ailes sabotaged her career by reducing her salary, adjusting her schedule to less favourable slots, denying her hard-hitting interviews and eventually firing her.
3. MEGYN KELLY CLAIMS:
After the press reported Carlson’s lawsuit, over 20 more women came forward, either corroborating Carlson’s story or making their own allegations of abuse against Ailes, including Megyn Kelly (played by Theron, left). Though she didn’t file a lawsuit, Kelly detailed the alleged abuse, dating back to 2006, in her 2016 memoir Settle For More, claiming
Ailes made “inappropriate sexually charged comments” and tried to repeatedly grab and kiss her in his office. Via his attorney, Susan Estrich, Ailes denied the allegations. Margot Robbie (right) co-stars as the fictional Kayla Pospisil, based on a combination of other women who complained about Ailes.
4. WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME?
On 21st July 2016, just two weeks after Gretchen’s lawsuit was filed, Ailes resigned from Fox News and received a payout of $40 million (around £32 million). Two months after Carlson’s initial claims, she received a $20 million (around £15.5 million) settlement from Fox, and the company issued a public apology admitting that she was “not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve”.