Fox News president resigns after accusations of sexual harassment

Washington:
The president of Fox News, Roger Ailes, resigned as the network’s
chief after a number of female employees accused him of sexual
harassment.

The
network’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, announced his resignation
on Thursday.

“Roger Ailes has made a remarkable contribution to our company and our country. Roger shared my vision of a great and independent television organisation and executed it brilliantly over 20 great years,” Rupert Murdoch, who will take over immediately as chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, said in a communique.

Ailes’
resignation comes weeks after he was accused by former Fox 5 reporter
Gretchen Carlson of having taken reprisals against her, including
reducing her salary, after she refused to have sexual relations with
him.

In
addition to the complaint presented by Carlson, this week Fox News
channel anchor Megyn Kelly, who on July 12 said she had also been the
victim of “unwanted sexual advances” by Ailes approximately
10 years ago.

After
this latest revelation, 21st Century Fox launched an internal
investigation and Ailes received an ultimatum from the corporate
lawyers to resign before August 1 or be fired for justifiable cause.

Murdoch
made no reference to these accusations or to the alleged ultimatum
presented by the company to Ailes in the statement released on
Thursday.

Meanwhile,
Ailes, 76 and the network’s CEO since 1996, said in a communique sent
to channel WNBC that Fox had become the No. 1 television network

Ailes stated

because I consistently identified and promoted the most talented men and women in television, and they performed at the highest levels, I will not allow my presence to become a distraction from the work that must be done every day to ensure that Fox News and Fox Business continue to lead our industry,

The
severance terms agreed to between Fox and Ailes were not disclosed.

IANS