Officially, Gretchen Carlson is only suing her former boss at Fox News, Roger Ailes, for sexual harassment. But for all intents and purposes, her former colleague at “Fox & Friends,” Steve Doocy, might as well be a defendant. Carlson’s suit contends that Doocy was one of many male staffers who acted like a sexist pig. However, Politico reveals that Doocy’s sexism was more or less an open secret at the fair and balanced network.
For those who missed it, Carlson contends that as early as 2009, Doocy had a habit of treating her “in a sexist or condescending way,” even going as far as to put his hand on her and pull down on her arm to “shush” her on air. And that was just the start. Let’s let Carlson’s lawyers tell you other ways in which Doocy acted like a pig.
“Doocy engaged in a pattern of severe and pervasive harassment of Carlson, including, but not limited to, mocking her during commercial breaks, shunning her off air, refusing to engage with her on air, belittling her contributions to the show, and generally attempting to put her in her place by refusing to accept and treat her as an intelligent and insightful journalist rather than a blond female prop.”
One former staffer at “Fox & Friends” recalled that “everyone on staff” knew or heard Doocy make churlish remarks. However, in a telling commentary about the environment at Fox News, that staffer said that when Doocy acted like a pig behind the scenes, “most people just rolled their eyes at it.”
Carlson claims that she pressed her complaints about Doocy’s behavior all the way up the chain of command, finally going to Ailes. However, Ailes reportedly blew them off as the rantings of a “man hater” and “killer” who needed to learn how to “get along with the boys.”
Fox News is notoriously clannish, in part because most of the network’s top personalities owe their careers to Ailes. However, Politico couldn’t help but notice the “notable lack of major Fox News anchors and talk-show hosts” stepping in to defend Ailes after Carlson filed her suit. Perhaps this may explain why.
If Carlson’s claims are to be believed, Ailes utterly failed in his legal and moral duty to protect her from Doocy’s churlishness. By not rallying behind their fearless leader, the folks at Fox News may be showing some integrity for once.
