FIGHT IS ON TO FIX FOX NEWS!
BOSSES SCRAMBLING AFTER A STAR’S EXIT, HARASSMENT CLAIMS & OTHER SCANDALS ROCK NETWORK
FOX News is spinning out of control — with bosses scrambling to keep the network afloat after a series of body blows from various scandals have tarnished the brand! That’s the conclusion of top industry insiders who told The National ENQUIRER the network is desperate to right its ship, but its leaders are encountering resistance from the network’s old guard.
Those hosts served under serial sexual harasser Roger Ailes — the network’s former top honcho who died in May 2017 just months after being ousted over misconduct charges.
New boss Suzanne Scott has been instituting changes since being named CEO in 2018, focusing on giving women more airtime and appointing more women to senior executive positions. Although FOX remains cable’s most-watched news network and boasts top ratings in several categories, still-simmering scandals involving some of its stars threaten to damage the brand even further.
What’s more, the network has been devastated by the abrupt departure of Shepard Smith, 55, who quit just over a year into a new contract, ending a stellar 23-year career at the network.
“Shep signed for around $12 million a year on a three- to five-year contract, so he must have been really p----d to leave!” dished a source.
“He was frustrated over being engaged in a war with the prime-time hosts who were complaining about him to Suzanne. But she’s too new to control the staff like Roger did — and the prime-time guys were telling her, ‘Look, we bring in all the money.’ ” Insiders also claimed Shep jumped ship before FOX could lock him into an ironclad agreement about the terms of his departure — leaving them terrified he’d leak secrets he’s amassed over two decades! Those secrets are likely to include shocking intimate details of the network’s most prominent names, as The ENQUIRER has reported. Topping that list is college dropout Sean Hannity, who hosts the most-watched show in cable news, has a nationally syndicated radio show and is
worth over $200 million!
But lawyer and blogger Debbie Schlussel, 50, accused Sean of bombarding her with sleazy come-ons, including an invitation to join him in his hotel room after an appearance in Detroit.
Debbie claimed she was blackballed from the show when she declined. Sean, 57, insisted the incident never happened and Debbie later said that while she stood by her description of events, she never considered it sexual harassment. Meanwhile, a rape accusation once threatened to derail the career of the host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight!” A woman in Kentucky claimed Tucker took advantage of her in a Louisville restaurant after slipping a drug into her drink in 2001. His life became a “living hell” as he fought the claim — and proved his innocence. “But the smear never goes away,” said a longtime associate.
Adding to the network’s worries, the easy-bantering team on the top-rated morning show, “FOX & Friends,” aren’t all they seem.
Super ambitious Brian Kilmeade is “incredibly jealous of Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson,” dished the insider.
What’s more, Brian is hiding his own dirty secret — a DUI bust! He was arrested on
Long Island in 1988 after cops spotted his Honda “swerving over double yellow lines” and he failed a field sobriety test. Court records show Brian,
55, was given a “reduced plea” and required to enter a program and pay a fine.
Steve Doocy, 63, was implicated in the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former co-host Gretchen Carlson against Ailes. According to her suit,
“Doocy engaged in severe and pervasive sexual harassment of Carlson, including mocking her during commercial breaks, shunning her off-air.”
While her suit was settled for $20 million in 2016, the allegations against Steve were never substantiated.
“Steve is loyal to the grave to FOX,” an insider told The ENQUIRER. “You don’t last as long as Steve without being a company man.” Laura Ingraham, 56, the embattled host of “The Ingraham Angle,” is at war with her estranged brother! “She’s a monster!” blasted Curtis Ingraham.
Advertisers boycotted Laura’s show last year after she posted tweets mocking the grades of Parkland, Fla., high school shooting survivor David Hogg and his rejection by a few colleges.
Curtis publicly supported David and snapped: “My sister’s mean-spirited, flip and insensitive remarks make me question her very humanity!”