CNN’s Alisyn Camerota spoke at length with Brian Stelter about her experiences being sexually harassed and abused so much at Fox News that she quit her job there. It’s a really fascinating interview, and Stelter tries to make it sound as bad as possible, whereas Camerota downplays the “toxic” atmosphere at the network.
Watch below:
Camerota explains in detail how Ailes pressured her to have sex with him in order to propel her career, and when she refused, she was passed over for promotions and assignments, according to her. She does a good job explaining what it feels like to be sexually harassed, how humiliating it is.
More from CNN:
For a long time Alisyn Camerota was reluctant to describe the dark side of working at Fox News.
She respects many of her former colleagues. She has close friends who work there. But she perceives that something has changed now that the channel’s CEO Roger Ailes and biggest star Bill O’Reilly have been ousted by the Murdoch family.
“It feels as though, if I take the Murdochs at their word, they really want to know what was wrong there and what the culture was like,” Camerota said.
And there was something profoundly wrong. In an interview on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” Camerota said publicly for the first time that she was one of Ailes’ targets.
“Yes, Roger Ailes did sexually harass me,” Camerota said.
Other prominent Fox anchors and reporters have made similar charges. Ailes resigned under pressure last July after another longtime anchor, Gretchen Carlson, sued him and the Murdochs retained an outside law firm to investigate the allegations.
Another accuser, Fox contributor Julie Roginsky, filed suit against Ailes and Fox News earlier this month. Through his lawyers, Ailes has strongly denied all of the allegations.
I really hate how so many people just reflexively blame the victim in these cases. How can it be denied with so many accusations now against the network? Camerota also explains how it’s not so easy to walk away from your entire career and job after experiencing that abuse.