The Slatest

Fox News Has the Worst Human Resources Standards in Human History

Roger Ailes outside News Corp. headquarters in New York City on July 19.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Ace New York magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman has a big piece up Friday about the downfall of Fox News’ Roger Ailes. Sherman is extremely well-connected at Fox, and the story is packed with details about media/political intrigue, some of which, such as Megyn Kelly suspecting Donald Trump may have had her poisoned, involve this year’s election. But it’s also a mind-boggling portrayal of unfathomably inappropriate workplace behavior that actually starts before Ailes got to Fox, when he was at CNBC:

By all accounts, Ailes had been a management disaster from the moment he arrived at NBC in 1993. But by 1995, things had reached a breaking point. In October of that year, NBC hired the law firm Proskauer Rose to conduct an internal investigation after then–NBC executive David Zaslav told human resources that Ailes had called him a “little fucking Jew prick” in front of a witness.

Sounds like the kind of guy you’d want to put in charge of an office, right? Rupert Murdoch thought so. This reportedly paid off for him in the form of Ailes installing cameras so he could make jokes about Murdoch’s son being gay:

According to executives, [Ailes] instructed Fox’s head of engineering, Warren Vandeveer, to install a CCTV system that allowed Ailes to monitor Fox offices, studios, greenrooms, the back entrance, and his homes. When Ailes spotted James Murdoch on the monitor smoking a cigarette outside the office, he remarked to his deputy Bill Shine, “Tell me that mouth hasn’t sucked a cock,” according to an executive who was in the room.

Ailes was also known for asking employees inappropriate personal questions:

According to interviews with Fox News women, Ailes would often begin by offering to mentor a young employee. He then asked a series of personal questions to expose potential vulnerabilities. “He asked, ‘Am I in a relationship? What are my familial ties?’ It was all to see how stable or unstable I was,” said a former employee.

And, of course, we also know from Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit and Sherman’s reporting that Ailes has been extensively accused of demanding hugs, kisses, oral sex, and intercourse from subordinates. One of many examples:

As the kind of cherry on top, Ailes allegedly fired someone just for suggesting that he shouldn’t harass women:

Megyn Kelly became so concerned about the rumors that she went to Ailes’s then–PR chief, Brian Lewis, and attempted an intervention … Lewis, according to the source, asked Laterza to tell Ailes to stop because he thought Ailes might listen to his longtime assistant. Instead, according to the source, Laterza told Ailes that his PR chief was being disloyal. Less than a year later, Ailes fired Lewis.

Sherman’s story notes that Ailes got $40 million in his severance agreement and that almost every other executive at the company, several of whom are accused of having had detailed knowledge of Ailes’ inappropriate behavior, have been retained. Despite the departure of its chief creep, it seems unlikely that Fox is about to become a great place to work.