Fox clarifies Murdoch’s comments

21st Century Fox sought Saturday to tamp down a furor over Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s comments that downplayed the magnitude of the sexual-harassment scandal that has roiled Fox News for 18 months.

During a interview Thursday with Sky News to discuss the Murdoch family’s sale of most of Fox to Walt Disney Co., Murdoch was asked how harmful sexual-harassment allegations at Fox News had been to the business of the parent company — and whether the scandal had stalled Fox’s campaign to gain full control of the Sky pay-TV service.

‘It’s all nonsense,” Murdoch said. “There was a problem with our chief executive (Roger Ailes) over the years, isolated incidents. As soon as we investigated, he was out of the place in hours … well, three or four days. And there has been nothing else since then.”

But there have been more allegations and firings since then, including the ouster of commentator Bill O’Reilly and the afternoon-show host Eric Bolling.

A Fox corporate representative issued a statement Saturday to clarify what the company said Murdoch meant.

“Rupert never characterized the sexual-harassment matters at Fox News as ‘nonsense.’ Rather, he responded negatively to the suggestion that sexual-harassment issues were an obstacle to the company’s bid for the rest of Sky,” according to the statement.