After Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against him, other female employees at Fox News publicly claimed that former Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes sexually harassed them. For that, Ailes was finally forced out of FOX News. Since then, former Director of Booking Laurie Luhn accused Ailes of harassing her for over 20 years, and she relayed a number of disturbing instances regarding Ailes’ alleged behavior, and how Fox News was complicit in it.
But that’s not all, the New York Magazine story about Luhn’s experience also includes details about how the network used attractive people to promote the Iraq War:
As she was promoted through the ranks at Fox, Luhn worked harder and harder to please Ailes. She zealously promoted the network’s right-wing agenda. “I was very proud of the product. I was very proud of how we handled 9/11. Very proud of how we handled the run-up to the Iraq War,” she said. “My job was to sell the war. I needed to get people on the air that were attractive and articulate and could convey the importance of this campaign. It was a drumbeat.”
It’s well known that Fox News has a right-wing bias, but this is a reported confirmation that they actively pushed a Republican agenda — one that resulted in a foreign policy catastrophe. It also shows how Roger Ailes’ abuse of power extended so far that it showed up in his network’s content.
The report also gives insight into why Luhn went along with Ailes’ sexual advances. He may have victimized her, but he also gave her power and influence at the network.
(Via New York Magazine)