Fox News Stars Stand With Roger Ailes Against Megyn Kelly, More Than 50 Fox Contributors, All Primetime, Willing To Walk
Breitbart News by Matthew Boyle
LEVELAND, Ohio — All of Fox News’ primetime lineup is willing to walk out of the network with chief executive and chairman Roger Ailes if he is pushed out by Rupert Murdoch and his family, Breitbart News has confirmed.
Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, Shepard Smith, Bret Baier, Eric Bolling, Neil Cavuto, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Laura Ingraham, Geraldo Rivera, Juan Williams, Jeanine Pirro, Bo Dietl, Monica Crowley, all of the Fox and Friends hosts, and at least 50 Fox News contributors are willing to depart the network if Ailes is ousted, and leave with him to form a new network, one of the network’s anchors told Breitbart News late Tuesday.
All of them stand against Megyn Kelly, and all of them stand with Roger Ailes.
This development, which has been confirmed to Breitbart News by multiple network sources, effectively boxes in those who want to remove Ailes. Either they can throw all in behind Megyn Kelly—in which case they would have to forfeit most of the rest of the network—or they can stand with the hardworking anchors and news personalities at Fox News.
“If Fox wants to become the ‘all about Megyn Network,’ that’s fine,” one top Fox News host said. “We stand with Roger. And real anger has emerged that the so-called Megyn incident happened 10 years ago. The consensus among the hosts and contributors is: ‘Why didn’t she say anything then? Really, the same woman that posed half naked in GQ? The same woman on Howard Stern saying what?’”
A second top Fox News Channel host told Breitbart News: “If Megyn Kelly wants to leave, we are fine with that. Good riddance.”
The fact that nearly the entire network is willing to walk out over this, and support Ailes over Kelly is significant in that they have banded together to show their strength. It will harder than ever now for the Murdochs to side with Kelly over Ailes, especially with the lack of any evidence of her allegations–and the fact that Kelly waited 10 years to say anything about this evidence-less supposed incident.
Most people at the Fox News Channel are extraordinarily offended that Kelly made Tuesday—the day Donald J. Trump because the official Republican nominee—all about herself. Multiple sources can’t believe she did this today of all days.
Other network sources say that this all about Megyn Kelly’s plans to get a Hillary Clinton interview, but she has already lost out on that front as both Baier and O’Reilly have gotten such interviews ahead of her–and both of theirs were better than she could ever do.
Trump, the billionaire real estate developer who has shaken the political world’s grounding in the United States for over a year now, has officially won the Republican nomination. But what is the biggest story in American politics, as Trump went from presumptive to actual GOP presidential nominee on Tuesday night? That one of America’s two major political parties has officially selected a businessman who has never held elected office before as its official presidential nominee, an earth-shattering development in American politics? No, it’s Megyn Kelly, who has yet again found a way to worm her way to the top of the news cycle ahead of the potential next President of the United States of America.
Kelly has for a year battled with Trump, throughout the Republican primaries and since then. She came at him with roundly criticized gotcha questions in the first GOP presidential debate here last August. She touted reports falsely accusing him of raping his ex-wife, and then didn’t back down from them. She regularly sparred with Trump over the ensuing next several months, and used her show to promote the so-called “Never Trump” collective—something that as shown here at the GOP convention as Trump easily wrapped up the nomination never amounted to an actual “movement.”
Trump skipped a debate in Iowa over Fox News’ decision to keep her on as an anchor. And she pushed the now widely discredited narrative that Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s now former campaign manager, somehow assaulted Michelle Fields. Police even wasted taxpayer resources to investigate the matter.
So, sure enough, as Trump wins the nomination, Kelly finds a way to commandeer the news cycle to put herself not just in the middle of the story—but to make all the news about her. Over the past few weeks, unsubstantiated allegations have emerged from Gretchen Carlson—a now former Fox News anchor—that Roger Ailes, the network’s chief executive and chairman, allegedly made sexual advances against her.
The news cycle on that matter seemed to fizzle away heading into the GOP convention here, though, as Carlson provided no evidence to back up her thus far unsubstantiated allegations while evidence of anti-Fox News and political biases from her attorney did surface. Carlson’s attorney, as Breitbart News uncovered, made tens of thousands of dollars in political donations to progressive Democrats with a penchant for publicly criticizing Fox News and Ailes. Meanwhile, a bevy of current and former Fox News anchors and contributors of their own volition began publicly speaking out in defense of Ailes ranging from Greta Van Susteren to Maria Bartiromo to Kimberly Guilfoyle and many more.
As Ailes seemed to be out of the woods, and the story seemed to be dying down, one question lingered as 15,000 mainstream media reporters—all of whom despise the Fox News Channel and Ailes—descended on Cleveland: Why hadn’t Megyn Kelly said anything?
Then, all of a sudden, Kelly dropped the bomb.
In comments to the outside firm investigating the matter, according to New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman—an anti-Ailes agitator in the mainstream media—Kelly alleged that Ailes sexually harassed her. She and her attorneys have, sources say, manipulated her way in a manner that rival Claire Underwood of the hit Netflix dramaHouse of Cards. “Even her haircut looks like Robin Wright [the actress who plays the ruthless First Lady in the series],” said one source in Cleveland. “She’s a woman who not just will do anything for power, but anything to make it all about her.”
49 comments:
Quite the lineup there - Bo Dietl is an outright communist now, and who even knew Jerry Rivers was still alive? Stories like this make me thankful I have no television reception.
Like I said before, these people know where their bread is buttered. Many of them have big followings and they know that Murdoch's kids are all leftists, so with Ailes out, if they stay there they will slowly get ousted and replaced or jewed down in their contracts and that's not something they want. Ailes is still a huge name draw and if he goes on to do his own network and take that many people with him to start it, then Fox viewers will or may bolt too. It will be an interesting thing to see.
Megyn Kelly is an odd fucking bird. She ended up becoming a toxic attention whore thinking that a guy who may have hugged her in a way she didn't like constitutes sexual harassment and hasn't tacitly backed Gretchen Carlson per se, but is willing to hang herself out there thinking that people latch onto her 'likeability' factor. Turns out that this is a very false narrative for her only because her narcissism thinks that people actually like her. They may watch her, but they may not like her. Good luck to her, she found her excuse to bolt Fox News. Whatever goodwill this woman had accumulated is gone and she's basically become a pariah in the halls.
I am not sure where these Fox 'stars' would go...The Blaze? They can go (contractually) and I am sure they support Ailes, but who would pick up O'Reilly or Greta? It is probably a threat that will not be carried out.
But I agree with what you said about Megyn. It is all about her. And where does she go from here? Would CNN hire her as a major anchor? Diva Anderson Cooper would have a problem with that. Do you see any of the TV Networks picking her up?
Sixty Grit said...
Quite the lineup there - Bo Dietl is an outright communist now,
How is Bo Dietl a communist?
Methadras, Ailes is in his seventies, so where does he start over with the gang? If they had a station like Current TV to plug into...maybe.
If he was running Fox at that age, I suspect, he could keep driving that bus until he drops dead. It's too much power for him to let go of and he's got enough clout and currency to keep it going with a new venture. If that many celebrities are willing to go with him after their contracts are up, then guess what, he could pull enough investors to back a new network or glom into an existing one and turn it around. Look at what Howard Stern did for SXM when he left terrestrial radio. it would be under the same principal I imagine.
Bbbbbut, Megyn is America's sweetheart! If she goes, the whole FOX news goes!
Look this is all set up perfectly for Trump to set up his own News Network. He can cannibalize the best parts of FOX news and if the Murdoch sons want to make it a standard liberal mouthpiece the way it seems they will go the way of MSNBC or CNN.
Ailes might be old but he is a vindictive son of a bitch. If he goes to Trump and says buy a cheap cable station with a lot of clearance and I will do everything and promise you great coverage 24/7 do you think he would go for it? I think he would.
The stars at Fox know that Ailes was their protector. Once he is gone they are at the mercy of the SJW's and pajama boy news consultants. That is why all of their contracts are tied to Ailes running the network.
I don't know. I don't THINK anybody is moving a muscle if Ailes is fired or has to leave or whatever.
They are all a bunch of phonies.
The leak hasn't been sourced to Kelly as far as I can tell.
Bo Deitel has always been a loud mouth knucklehead. I know this because it takes one to know on.
Jerry Rivers came in second in a recent Celebrity Apprentice competition. He is always on FOX fake attacking Trump. But he has a proven track record. Perfect for an early afternoon talk show like his old one that can put on crazy people and give Jerry Springer a run for his money.
The pieces are in place for a quick and easy transfer.
I figured Cavuto would be in the list, and Laura, Jeannine, and Monica, but it shows some class Williams (say what you will...) and Geraldo stood up. He gave both those guys a new career.
One of those "I'm in the middle of a WWII movie and the sky is full of planes" moments. I don't doubt Ailes, who is a pretty tough old bird, felt quite a catch in his throat when he heard.
This is Troop's point about Trump and what happens when you stand by your people.
Evi L. Bloggerlady said...
I am not sure where these Fox 'stars' would go...The Blaze?
Maybe Trump News Network.
I do think it is contract based. They have an out clause. Just like Alex Rodriquez had with they Yankees a few years ago. You always exercise it to get more money.
What is interesting is the hate directed toward Megyn Kelly. I wonder if any of it will show up on her show. I think it would be interesting if a bunch of FOX contributors state taking shots at her. I know O'Reilly would love to do it. I can see it coming up in the context of an interview with Trump. Interesting.
It's all fun and games until you take a chair across the bridge of your nose.
Sixty
Starting a network is not easy, is there an available network that could act as Trump News Network? Trump is running for office right now and I do not see him having the time to do anything like that.
It would be a nice fall back if he lost, but I don't think he wants to go there.
Bo Dietl has a show on Fox?
His sons could do it.
Murdoch didn't have a network when he started.
Fox Studios had a TV production company back in the Good Old Days ("Broken Arrow", "12 O'Clock High"), but that's not a network.
Cable nets start all the time.
Insufficient facts to prosecute against Megyn Kelly.
You don't need a network only a channel. He can grab one that is on a lot of basic cable packages and just do an overnight change of style. It happens all the time.
The thing is he can lift the infrastructure right out of FOX. I think the real issue would be the producers and the behind the scenes people not the star power. The cameramen and the sound guys and news writers. Many of them are freelance and would be happy to go over in return for a contract and a guarantied paycheck for a year. That is all it would take.
I think Trump could give it to one of his kids as a project. Maybe Eric. Or better yet let Ivanka's husband take it. He owns a newspaper and is very familiar with the players in news.
It is a win/win for Ailes and Trump. Murdoch would lose his shit if that happened.
Trooper York said...
You don't need a network only a channel. He can grab one that is on a lot of basic cable packages and just do an overnight change of style. It happens all the time.
Al Jazeera becomes Al Gore News. I think it's the RuPaul channel now.
Look at Oprah. She drove her show off the air endorsing Pissy (they both went to Rev Wright's church) and was able to parlay it into several cable channels (OWN).
I know you think there are insufficient facts. What I hope is that one of these news people have the balls to call her out on air. Someone with enough juice to make it stick. Which is basically O'Reilly or Hannity. Anyone else would face repercussions that would end their career.
Greta can't do it because she is easily replaceable. Caputo could do it but he has not been heard from yet. The other players like Kimberly or Monica Crowley are too low on the totem pole to matter. But if one of them went after Kelly on her own show that would be ratings gold.
There are a lot of failing cable channels that could be bought for a song. Trump is not the only big bucks guy who could do it. One of the other big money guys like the Koches or Mark Cuban could do it as well. Of course they would have to want to have a conservative network if they were going to put Ailes in charge.
That would be a lot smarter and more effective than investing money in political campaigns. Just sayn'
Cuban is an outright communist. You can look it up.
Give me a break - I bet very few of these people even have an out clause in their contracts if Ailes leaves. This is a public company and their attorney aka sharks don't offer or concede to bestow out clauses to their big revenue producers.
It has been reported that the big three O'Reilly, Greta and Hannity have out clause that if Ailes goes they can get out of their contract. It is very hard to keep disgruntled talent on air. It never works out well.
The big three are what is important. The small fry might not matter. Unless there is an opposition network set up.
They might be negotiating this too. Ailes might get a much bigger pay out if he signs a non compete clause. Then this is all moot.
Except for the fact that everyone despises the traitor Megyn Kelly. That bruise will linger. That wound will fester. The knives will be out for her even more than they are now.
Pretty sure that since Trump is running for POTUS, the powers that be that hand out cable TV franchises, wouldn't allow it.
They recently did this to Geraldo on WABC in New York. He had a nice little show that I used to listen to on the radio around noon. He had a contract but they dumped him and ended up getting screwed. Ailes took him off the scrap heap. Sixty is right that he is a commie jerk off but he is loyal. There is something to be said for that.
Same thing with Juan Williams. I hate his commentary but I really respect the fact that he would stand up for Ailes. It shows his character in a really flattering light. Good for him. He can stand on my lawn anytime. Just sayn'
I hear you Trooper but if their big direct deposit paychecks keep rolling in, it is hard to see why the big three would be disgruntled for long.
Juan William's first contract with FNC was reported to be for $600K per year. So he better pray that gravy train does not go off the tracks.
Trooper York said...
Greta can't do it because she is easily replaceable. Caputo could do it but he has not been heard from yet. The other players like Kimberly or Monica Crowley are too low on the totem pole to matter. But if one of them went after Kelly on her own show that would be ratings gold.
If you mean Cavuto, instead of Caputo, he's in the list at the top, and Ailes gave him Fox Business, where all the real babes are BTW, to run as his own.
If Cavuto said, "That's it", Murdoch would be in some trouble.
As for Laura, Monica, and Jeannine, they all have followings and Laura and Monica have their own columns, etc. That gives them a forum of their own, so they could make some trouble for the Murdoch family.
I don't think it's that cut and dried, but it's the weight of numbers and the fact many take a share of viewers with them if they walk.
AJ Lynch said...
Give me a break - I bet very few of these people even have an out clause in their contracts if Ailes leaves. This is a public company and their attorney aka sharks don't offer or concede to bestow out clauses to their big revenue producers.
Depends. If they came there because of a chance to work with Ailes, who they know would let them speak their unfettered piece, when they know working at CNN or MSLSD would require them to tow the party line, yeah, it just might be in the contract.
And I also agree with Lem's comment at 2:07.
Trump himself wouldn't buy it Allen. His company could. I don't think they could stop his children from doing it either. Trump has a ton of shell companies with other front men. He could have one of them buy something like I don't know LOGO or DIY or even the Travel network. Then he could load on news. He doesn't have to make it all news. Just a couple of hours. Gradually work into it.
But it doesn't mean another conservative activist can't back Ailes. Ailes can be an vindictive fuck and if he doesn't get a really good buy out with a do not compete I can see him trying to fuck over FOX News. I hope he does.
Listen I agree with Lem and AJ that money talks and bullshit walks. The key question is if Ailes sets up a pop stand across the street a lot of them will be more than happy to go over for a slight bump in pay or a better time slot.
The one thing this article really shows is the that Megyn Kelly is the disloyal worthless feminazi cunt that I always thought her to be. She is a die hard lib feminist who has had it out for Trump from the beginning and is just as bad as Gwen Ifill or Candy Crowley or Leslie Stall to make up more lies to support Hillary. To pile on to get Ailes fired because of a "Hug" is really ridiculous. I mean seriously.
This is why you need to take no prisoners and shoot the wounded when you are dealing with the media. Even the so called conservative media like FOX.
Troop, it is not going to happen. Unless you have the infrastructure in place to keep rolling, high price talent is not going to go to a start up. They are loyal to Ailes, but there is really no place for them to go (and even if Trump wanted to do something like this it would take a long time to set it up).
I suspect Ailes will take a big severance and maybe a face saving consulting gig with Fox (so as to keep him quiet) and the talent will stay with Fox because there is no place really to go.
But if they do implode things, I wish them the best and hope they are successful.
Gwen Ifill, Candy Crowley and Leslie Stall are not as bad as Megyn Kelly. Kelly stabbed Ailes in the back.
I don't know Evi. People do that in entertainment all the time.
I always figured it was Brit Hume who groomed Megyn for her climb up the ladder.
Groomed. Heh.
That's what I read, too. I like Brit. He would shut down Juan filibustering and running out the clock back when I used to watch Fox News Sunday.
Brit groomed her alright.
I haven't watched the news, or any of these shows you're talking about in around 15 years. I'll take everyone here's word for what they see.
You mean like combed her hair?
It's what they call it when a model mows the lawn.
Evi L. Bloggerlady said...
Troop, it is not going to happen. Unless you have the infrastructure in place to keep rolling, high price talent is not going to go to a start up. They are loyal to Ailes, but
there is really no place for them to go (and even if Trump wanted to do something like this it would take a long time to set it up).
Well, what do you think FNC was? A start up, built on the talent of Ailes.
You don't get what happened in the first place.
ed, there is no point arguing it. I hope it happens, I doubt it will.
Heh heh groomed heh heh
He definately groomed her hair.
She went from the Oscar Gamble to the landing strip. Allegedly.
Evi L. Bloggerlady said...
ed, there is no point arguing it. I hope it happens, I doubt it will
Not arguing, but I think you have a misconception about how FNC started.
Murdoch bought up Fox Studios and turned it into a TV network. He bought the NY Post and made it part of News Corp.
There was no Conservative cable network on which to build FNC.
A Trump News Net (or something similar) is on my wish list right below term limits for Congress and the Federal bench.
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