UPDATE 4/25/17: Victory! Fox News finally fired Bill O'Reilly. But Fox executives didn't act of their own volition -- they were forced to act after over 80 advertisers publicly stated that they would no longer sponsor The O'Reilly Factor, sending a forceful message that sexual harassment is not only wrong, but also it's bad for business. But Fox's sexual harassment problems extend well beyond Bill O'Reilly -- reports of gender discrimination and sexism go all the way up to Fox's top brass, including co-president Bill Shine. Firing Bill O'Reilly was a first step that the network needed to be forced to take. But if Fox News executives want to signal that they’re serious about addressing sexual harassment, they'll fire Bill Shine too.
UPDATE 4/03/17: A bombshell New York Times investigation found that Fox News and Fox host Bill O’Reilly have paid $13 million to settle with five women who accused the host of repeated sexual harassment or verbal abuse. As the channel’s top host, O’Reilly’s years of sexual harassment must be taken seriously by the network’s executives, particularly after former Fox CEO Roger Ailes’ ouster due to sexual harassment allegations. Clearly a culture of sexism, misogyny, and sexual harassment still thrives at Fox News. Add your name to pressure Fox executives to take action against sexual harassment and hold O’Reilly accountable.
Since former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment suit against the network’s chief executive Roger Ailes, dozens of other women – including another high profile Fox News host – have come forward with stories of Ailes’ sexism, harassment, and worse. The scandal goes beyond Ailes, as other Fox executives reportedly knew about and enabled his harassment of women at the network over his decades-long career.
Getting rid of Ailes was a long overdue start to addressing these very serious charges. Fox News has an obligation to take this matter seriously, not just for the sake of its staff, but also for its audience.
But we've long passed the point where Fox News can simply be trusted to run its own internal review. For years, the network has cultivated a toxic atmosphere of misogyny and sexism. Hosts, anchors, and guests flood the airwaves with victim-blaming and sexual assault denial, which raises serious questions about the network’s culture and credibility. According to news reports, Ailes is receiving a huge payout just to walk away – in excess of $40 million! And Fox is reportedly considering replacing Ailes with network executive Bill Shine, even though multiple report have linked Shine to Ailes' harassment.
Enough is enough. It's time for 21st Century Fox to show everyone that its culture of sexism and misogyny has to end. Add your name to this letter to Fox executives Lachlan and James Murdoch to show your support:
To: Lachlan Murdoch (executive co-chairman, News Corp & 21st Century Fox) and James Murdoch (CEO, 21st Century Fox)
Since former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment suit against the network’s chief executive Roger Ailes, dozens of other women have come forward with stories of sexism, harassment, and worse from Ailes. Disturbingly, many of the allegations include details indicating that other Fox executives knew about and enabled Ailes' harassment of women at the network over his decades-long career.
Getting rid of Ailes was a long overdue start. But we've long passed the point where Fox News can be trusted to run its own internal review, considering the toxic atmosphere of misogyny and sexism the network has cultivated over the years.
Fox News has an obligation to take this issue seriously -- not just for the sake of its staff, but also for its audience. Release the findings of the internal review of the sexual harassment claims and show you’re not just going through the motions on these significant and disturbing allegations.
This campaign is now closed.