In the past year, multiple Fox News anchors have reported extreme, ongoing sexual harassment by former network CEO Roger Ailes, leading to his ouster from the network. But Ailes doesn't appear to be the only perpetrator of abuse at Fox.
The New York Times reports that a letter by lawyers for former Fox employee Juliet Huddy alleges Bill O'Reilly and co-President of Fox Jack Abernathy sexually harassed her, then tried to sabotage her career when she refused their advances. After the bad press generated by sexual harassment claims made against Ailes, executives agreed to a quiet settlement with Huddy to prevent a lawsuit, the Times reports.
O'Reilly was not exactly a paragon of professionalism, according to the letter, which claimed he once greeted Huddy in a hotel room in his boxer shorts and occasionally sounded "as if he was masturbating" when he called her on the phone. A Fox News spokesperson told the Times the letter contained falsehoods, but did not appear to dispute that there was a settlement.
O'Reilly has been accused of sexually harassing female employees before, including the famed "falafel" incident, in which Fear Factor associate producer Andrea Mackris claimed O'Reilly shared steamy fantasies about "the falafel thing."
