Tantaros' Suit Expands Problems For Fox And Murdochs

I have been skeptical that Fox News could endure the Roger Ailes’ scandal without a thorough house-cleaning as is it was pretty clear that the culture at the company reflected the man at the top. And now a new lawsuit filed by former host Andrea Tantaros has specifically implicated not only Ailes but other senior top executives at Fox. In addition to Ailes, Tantaros also lists Fox News, newly appointed leader of Fox, Bill Shine, general counsel Dianne Brandi, and two other Fox executives as defendants. The suit not only makes claims of sexual harassment against Ailes as well as accusing Fox employees such as Scott Brown and Bill O’Reilly of inappropriate behavior but also claims that the company retaliated against her when she turned down Ailes’ advances by moving her to a less prestigious time slot, leaking unflattering information about her, and undermining her career in other ways. Tantaros described the environment at Fox “like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny.” The accusations against Shine and Brandi are hardly surprising. As general counsel, Brandi had to have been involved with the settlements that Fox paid out to silence some of Ailes’ victims. And Shine was also tangentially implicated in the tragic abuse of Laurie Luhn which is why it was so surprising that the Murdochs made Shine part of the new leadership team. They may regret that decision now, especially if Shine is subsequently forced to step down as result of this suit or any new revelations the suit brings. If, in fact, that does happen, maybe the Murdochs will finally get the message and clean house at Fox.