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How sexual misconduct claims brought down 5 major media players

Matt Lauer fired from NBC News


 


Numerous accusations of sexual misconduct against high-profile media figures have been made in recent months, largely coming after the allegations of widespread abuse by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

The fallout has been severe -- here are some of the biggest names who have turned from covering the news to being a part of it.

 

Roger Ailes, Fox News

PHOTO: Fox News chairman Roger Ailes attends a dinner of the New York Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) at the Pierre Hotel in New York on April 2, 2014.
Tim Boxer/Getty Images
Fox News chairman Roger Ailes attends a dinner of the New York Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) at the Pierre Hotel in New York on April 2, 2014.
 

Fox News Chairman and CEO Ailes resigned from the company on July 21, 2016.

His resignation came about a month after former anchor Gretchen Carlson, a mainstay of the network for 11 years, left Fox News and filed a lawsuit against her former boss. In it, she alleges that Ailes had “sabotaged” her career after she “refused his sexual advances,” and that her job was terminated in retaliation for rebuffing him and complaining to him about sexual harassment.

Fox News and Ailes have denied Carlson's allegations in the past.

Four months after he resigned, then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly said that she had been sexually harassed by Ailes and didn't come forward sooner because it would have been a "suicide mission."

"He tried to kiss me three times [in his office], so I rejected that, and when I rejected that, he asked me when my contract was up," Kelly said on "Good Morning America." "As soon as I left his office, I called a lawyer, and I did bring the matter to a supervisor at Fox News."

Days later, his former employee Laurie Luhn told ABC News' "20/20" that for much of the more than two decades that she worked for him, she was harassed, intimidated and pressured by him into performing sexual favors.

“I went through such hell for so many years. I finally felt safe when… I saw that other women were speaking up,” Luhn told ABC News “20/20.”

Ailes died on May 18 at the age of 77. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner ruled his death was accidental.

 

Bill O'Reilly, Fox News

PHOTO: Bill OReilly of the Fox News Channel program The OReilly Factor in New York on Oct. 1, 2015.
Richard Drew/AP
Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News Channel program "The O'Reilly Factor" in New York on Oct. 1, 2015.
 
 

It was announced that O'Reilly would not be returning to Fox News on April 19, nearly six months before the Weinstein scandal broke.

"After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel," 21st Century Fox said in a statement.

The star host has been dogged by misconduct claims -- some sexual in nature -- since an April 1 story in The New York Times detailed alleged settlements made between the host and five women who accused him of harassment and sexual misconduct.

In O'Reilly's first statement about his departure, he said: "It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims. But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today."

Five days after his departure, O'Reilly said that he was "sad" that he would no longer be hosting "The O'Reilly Factor."

Months later, in October, another New York Times story reported that O'Reilly had made a $32 million settlement with an accuser one month before O'Reilly's contract with Fox News was re-signed, securing him a reported $25 million a year.

 

Mark Halperin, MSNBC

PHOTO: Author and producer Mark Halperin appears at the Showtime Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Aug. 11, 2016.
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Author and producer Mark Halperin appears at the Showtime Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Aug. 11, 2016

Five women came forward in an Oct. 26 report by CNN alleging sexual harassment while Halperin was the political director at ABC News in the late 1990s.

The Washington Post later spoke to nine women who said they either knew of or experienced directly unwanted contact from Halperin.

"During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me. I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I’m going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation," Halperin said to CNN in his first statement on the issue.

He issued another statement on Oct. 27 saying that he is "profoundly sorry" and noted that because some of the accounts "have not been particularly detailed (and many were anonymous) making it difficult for me to address certain specifics. But make no mistake: I fully acknowledge and apologize for conduct that was often aggressive and crude."

MSNBC announced it has removed Halperin from his role as a political contributor at the network. The book Halperin was working on about the 2016 presidential election has been canceled and HBO has pulled the plug on a project the network was planning with him.
 

Charlie Rose, CBS

PHOTO: Charlie Rose attends New York Magazines 50th Anniversary Celebration at Katzs Delicatessen in New York, Nov. 24, 2017.
Andy Kropa/Invision/AP
Charlie Rose attends New York Magazine's 50th Anniversary Celebration at Katz's Delicatessen in New York, Nov. 24, 2017.
 

Multiple women accused Charlie Rose of sexual misconduct in interviews with The Washington Post. Three unnamed women came forward in a story published by Business Insider later. It is unclear if the women overlap with those in the Post story.

Five women told The Washington Post that Rose, an anchor for "CBS This Morning" and host of an interview program that aired on public television, groped them while they worked or sought to work for the interview program; two said that he walked naked in front of them; and one accused Rose of firing her after he allegedly touched her inappropriately and made sexually charged remarks to her.

Rose issued an apology to the Post and later, he shared it on Twitter.

“In my 45 years in journalism, I have prided myself on being an advocate for the careers of the women with whom I have worked,” he said in a statement to the newspaper. “Nevertheless, in the past few days, claims have been made about my behavior toward some former female colleagues."

Rose added that he didn't "believe that all of these allegations are accurate."

He was initially suspended by CBS and later fired.
 

Matt Lauer, NBC

NBC News fired "Today Show" host Matt Lauer today after a colleague accused him of "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace," the network said.

NBC News chairman Andrew Lack announced Lauer's termination in a memo this morning, which was obtained by ABC News. He said the company received "a detailed complaint from a colleague" Monday night "about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer."

The details about the alleged inappropriate behavior have not been publicly disclosed, though Variety published a story late Wednesday afternoon with personal accounts by unnamed women describing Lauer’s alleged sexual misconduct they had witnessed or experienced.

In the story, current and former NBC staffers claimed that Lauer allegedly exposed himself to a female employee, gave a separate female an employee an inappropriate gift and spoke of his colleagues in lewd ways.

ABC News has not been able to verify these additional claims and a request for comment from Lauer’s camp and NBC was not immediately returned.

Lauer has not made any public statements since his dismissal.

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