Report: Ailes to be Resign or be Fired within Days
Now, we should point out that this story comes from longtime Fox News hater Gabriel Sherman at New York magazine.
Sherman's scoops appear to be hit and miss in the past, but if he's right this time it is a blockbuster.
Sherman writes Roger Ailes's tenure as the head of Fox News may be coming to an end. Rupert Murdoch and sons Lachlan and James — co-chairmen and CEO, respectively, of parent company 21st Century Fox — have settled on removing the 76-year-old executive, say two sources briefed on a sexual-harassment investigation of Ailes being conducted by New York law firm Paul, Weiss.
After reviewing the initial findings of the probe, James Murdoch is said to be arguing that Ailes should be presented with a choice this week to resign or face being fired. Lachlan is more aligned with their father, who thinks that no action should be taken until after the GOP convention this week. Another source confirms that all three are in agreement that Ailes needs to go.
While Gretchen Carlson’s sexual-harassment lawsuit against Ailes sparked the investigation, sources say it has expanded into a wide-ranging inquiry into Ailes’s controversial management style. The interviews are now being conducted at Paul, Weiss’s midtown offices because of concerns that the Fox offices could be bugged, sources say.
21st Century Fox did not respond for comment. Ailes’s spokesperson Irena Briganti also did not respond.
Meanwhile, one Fox host told me that Ailes loyalists are reporting back on the investigation to his attorney, and Fox contributor, Susan Estrich. “They’re scared to death,” one Fox anchor told me. “The mood is bleak.”