Vanity Fair’s Sarah Ellison: Fox Leaving In Charge "People Who Were Doing Exactly What It Was That Ailes Asked Them To Do”

From the August 14 edition of CNN’s Reliable Sources:

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BRIAN STELTER (HOST): Sarah, clearly the Murdochs are trying to get all of this over with, they’re trying to name new bosses so we'll all move on. What's the significance of these appointments on Friday?

SARAH ELLISON: Well, these are people who are -- Bill Shine started his career as a producer for Sean Hannity, and these are the people who have been -- they have both been with Fox for a long time. Jack Abernethy left for a short period of time, but this is sort of 21 Century Fox and the Murdochs’ effort to move on, quell any concern among the talent that anything is really going to change, aside from the fact that [Roger] Ailes, who apparently controlled everything, is gone. So it's sort of trying to cut the head off of this hydra and then it’s leaving behind a lot of the people who were doing exactly what Ailes it was that asked them to do.

STELTER: It's showing that the Murdochs don't believe they need brand-new leadership to clean house.

ELLISON: Well, I think that they’re concerned that if they got brand-new leadership at this point, they would kill the goose that lays the golden egg. And Fox is extremely --

STELTER: And maybe lose some of their stars.

ELLISON: And maybe lose some of their stars, like Sean Hannity or like Greta Van Suseren, who are people who are still very much loyal to Bill Shine.

Previously:

Fox News Promotes Executive Who Reportedly “Played An Integral Role” In Covering Up Sexual Harassments Claims

Roger Ailes Biographer Gabriel Sherman Reports Fox Executives Helped Ailes “Cover Up” Sexual Harassment Allegations

Fox's Kurtz Reports Bill Shine’s Promotion At FNC, Omits That He Reportedly Helped Cover Up Ailes' Sexual Harassment