CNN's Alisyn Camerota says Roger Ailes sexually harassed her at Fox News
CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota revealed on Sunday that during her time at Fox News, she was sexually harassed by the network's former chairman, Roger Ailes.
Camerota spent more than a decade at Fox News, and on CNN's Reliable Sources, she said Ailes' behavior is one of the reasons she jumped ship to CNN in 2014. Ailes was ousted from the network last July after several women, including former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, accused him of sexual harassment; last week, the network parted ways with Bill O'Reilly after he was also accused of sexual harassment and verbal abuse by numerous women.
Camerota said Ailes suggested to her that if she wanted to have more opportunities at the network, they should meet at a hotel. "I had sort of an out-of-body experience, hovering over us in the office and thinking: 'Is this it? Is this the end of my time here? Will I be fired if I don't do this?'" she said. "I knew in my head, at that moment, I'm never going to that hotel under any circumstances, but I didn't know what that meant for me and for my career."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Camerota said that after she rebuffed his advances, Ailes tried a new tactic, "sort of emotional harassment." He scoffed at her for not "sharing his worldview," she explained, and not being conservative enough. "Sometimes, he would lecture me," Camerota said. "Sometimes, he would insult me." Ailes' attorney, Susan Estrich, told CNN that Camerota's allegations were "unsubstantiated," and her client "vigorously denies this fictional account of her interactions with him and of Fox News editorial policy."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
‘Care fractures after birth’instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Shots fired in the US-EU war over digital censorshipIN THE SPOTLIGHT The Trump administration risks opening a dangerous new front in the battle of real-world consequences for online action
-
What will the US economy look like in 2026?Today’s Big Question Wall Street is bullish, but uncertain
-
TikTok secures deal to remain in USSpeed Read ByteDance will form a US version of the popular video-sharing platform
-
Unemployment rate ticks up amid fall job lossesSpeed Read Data released by the Commerce Department indicates ‘one of the weakest American labor markets in years’
-
US mints final penny after 232-year runSpeed Read Production of the one-cent coin has ended
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
