Former Fox News anchor Andrea Tantaros came forward last month and alleged that the network took her off the air after she reported sexual harassment. In a lawsuit filed against the network last week, Tantaros claims that Fox News “operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny.”
After Fox News executives denied her claims, Tantaro fired back by challenging ousted chairman Roger Ailes, primetime anchor Bill O’Reilly, network co-president Bill Shine, Fox News spokesperson Irena Briganti, and Vice President Dianne Brandi (to take a lie detector test. Tantaros’ lawyer, Judd Burstein, sent an email to reporters Monday morning with proposed questions for the current and former Fox News executives. “The time has come […] either to let this case play out in the courtroom or to conduct an even-handed trial in the court of public opinion,” Burstein wrote.
Questions for Ailes include, “Did you ever ask Ms. Tantaros to turn around for you?”, “Did you ever say anything to Ms. Tantaros about how she would look in a bikini?” and “Did you ever ask Ms. Tantaros about the reasons why her relationship with a previous boyfriend had ended?”
The questions also probe into allegations of illegally spying on Tantaros by hacking into her Gmail account, creating “sock puppet accounts” to attack Tantaros on social media, and spreading rumors about her conduct to reporters. The questionnaire asks of Bill Shine, “Did you direct an independent contractor for Fox News to arrange for negative comments about Ms. Tantaros to be made on social media?” And of Irena Briganti: “Did you ever tell a reporter that Ms. Tantaros had been taken off the air because she had a physical altercation with another female Fox News employee?”
More of the proposed questions were tweeted by BuzzFeed’s Kyle Blaine:
https://twitter.com/kyletblaine/status/770257215617925120
https://twitter.com/kyletblaine/status/770257784860446720
https://twitter.com/kyletblaine/status/770258083176128512
https://twitter.com/kyletblaine/status/770258256442843137
https://twitter.com/kyletblaine/status/770258669934112768
https://twitter.com/kyletblaine/status/770258991486267392
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)