Hang your head in shame! Yes, I mean you. Hang it. Because your hate killed Roger Ailes! Well, so says Bill O’Reilly, a man with a similar, to use a currently popular phrase, “sterling reputation.” In an Op-Ed piece, BillO exalts in Ailes’ magnificent life and castigates the cruel, cruel public that actually caused his death.
To say that Roger Ailes led a full life is a massive understatement. A force of nature with an agenda, RA, as fellow executives called him, was a man on a mission.That quest was to infuse America with traditional philosophy and see to it that conservatives like him were heard loud and clear.
What a man! We are not worthy!
Not once in almost 20 years did Roger Ailes order me to say anything on the air. I had total independence. In private, I sometimes challenged his orthodoxy. I wish I had taped that.
Why would he? But, let’s proceed.
Over the years, I saw Roger literally save people from destruction. And more than a few. He didn't have to do it, there was no benefit to him. In the callous world of TV news, that kind of generosity is rare. If a Fox person had trouble, Roger was the guy to go to. But you had to be honest.
When Roger departed Fox News last July under a cloud of suspicion, the vast majority of Fox employees were sad. We were not privy to executive actions and while opinions were many, facts were few. Roger was convicted of bad behavior in the court of public opinion, and it was painful for many of us to watch. He, himself, was stunned and never really recovered.
Why, oh why was this prince among men cast aside. Well, maybe it was things like this:
Laurie Luhn worked for Roger Ailes, the former chairman and CEO of Fox News, for more than two decades and she says for much of that time, she was harassed, intimidated and pressured by him into performing sexual favors.
“I went through such hell for so many years. I finally felt safe when… I saw that other women were speaking up,” Luhn told ABC News “20/20.”
Luhn first spoke to New York Magazine about her explosive allegations, and is now sitting down with ABC News for her first television interview.
Luhn said Ailes offered her work on a freelance basis doing research, but that it became clear that he was interested in more than just her work. One night Ailes was in Washington D.C., advising President Bush on a televised speech. Luhn says he asked her to watch the speech and then come to his hotel room to share her feedback but once there, she says the conversation took an unexpected turn.
Luhn said that Ailes told her she “needed training.” She didn’t know what that meant, but “I was about to find out,” she said.
Luhn said Ailes told her to strip down to her lingerie and dance for him. Feeling intimidated and worried for her job, she said she did as she was told.
“He would have me get down on my knees and tell me, ‘You know what you are, Laurie. You're my whore. You're my sex slave. You're going to do whatever I tell you to do at any time. Do you understand that?’” Luhn said. “And he explained that it was like the military, that if he gave an order I was to follow through.”
Luhn said Ailes then instructed her to perform oral sex and she was too stunned to refuse.
“I didn't question it,” she said. “And that was his big thing, ‘Just don't ever question anything I ever ask you to do, Laurie. You understand?’”
Oh, but you have to make exceptions for a God like man such as Roger Ailes, after all, this was the only one, wasn’t it? Well…
The sexual harassment claims against former Fox News chief Roger Ailes have only grown worse in the month since Gretchen Carlson filed suit against the 76-year-old media legend.
Carlson, a former Fox News host, dropped the bombshell allegation that Ailes had harassed her throughout her time at the network and enabled a hostile work environment there. Other women have now accused him of sexually related misconduct from unwanted groping to decades of “psychological torture.”
The list of Ailes’ public and private accusers has grown to more than 20, Carlson’s lawyers have said.
But, back to BillO’s Impassioned statement:
We are living in a rough age, with technological advances changing behavior and perspective. The downside of that is turning us into a nation where hatred is almost celebrated in some quarters.
Roger Ailes experienced that hatred and it killed him. That is the truth. But he would not want to be remembered that way. He did both good and bad in his life and in that, he has something in common with every human being.
When I remember Roger, as I often will, I'll picture him holding court with his top anchors, jazzing them with wit, verbally crushing any and all pretensions. He was truly a force, an unforgettable person.
Stop BillO, you’re making me cry! To all you haters out there, BillO says, J’accuse!