HUGE! Fox in 8-FIGURE settlement talks with Gretchen Carlson after AUDIO TAPES emerge!

The Gretchen Carlson case against Fox News over the sexual harassment allegations with Roger Ailes could mean an enormous payday for the former anchor, and I don’t mean the candy bar!!*

From Vanity Fair:

Meanwhile, 21st Century Fox has begun discussing a settlement in the Gretchen Carlson lawsuit against Ailes, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The company is requesting that Ailes, who has denied all Carlson’s allegations, fund at least a portion of the settlement, which is expected to reach eight figures, these people said. At issue in the settlement talks is the existence of audio tapes recorded by multiple women in conversation with Ailes, two people familiar with the tapes said. Ailes’ lawyers have argued that any negotiation with Carlson should take place in private arbitration, but the specter of a public trial looms. “If they litigate the case, all the tapes will become public, directly and through others,” this person said. “Then you will have a parade of women come in. Nobody wants that.” (Ailes, through his lawyer, denied all allegations.)

Wow. That’s a lot of money. It probably doesn’t help their case that Andrea Tantaros came out today and accused the network of taking her off the air after she made her own allegations of sexual harassment against Roger Ailes.

But really the big question is whether Fox News execs knew about the harassment and looked the other way. Just the fact that they’re looking into an enormous settlement like what’s being reported inclines one to think so:

There is also a general perception among some who knew Ailes that, despite his vaunted secrecy, he himself might not have been all that discreet. “With a man like Ailes, it is beyond my ability to grasp that he wasn’t talking to other men about what he was doing,” the executive added. “To think other people wouldn’t know about it defies belief.”

And what about those tapes?! What’s on them?!?! I WANT TO KNOW!!!

*unless she buys a huge “PayDay” candy bar with the settlement money, then I DID mean that.

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