'Bombshell': What happened to Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson, Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch after Fox News sexual harassment saga
Jay Roach’s media drama ‘Bombshell’ follows the story of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes (played by a heavily prosthetic-ed John Lithgow) and the many, many charges of sexual misconduct against him. In 2016, a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against Ailes by former Fox journalist Gretchen Carlson (played by Nicole Kidman in the film) kickstarted an internal investigation at the right-wing news network.
This gave way to a wave of sexual harassment claims against Ailes. Megyn Kelly (portrayed by Charlize Theron) was among the many women who reported experiencing harassment at the hands of Republican party kingmaker.
More than 20 women accused Ailes, and he was forced to resign from his position in July 2016. He died a year later at the age of 77. While the film has received mixed reviews from both critics and cinema-goers, it presents a welcome opportunity to look at where the real-life counterparts of the key players in the film are right now.
Megyn Kelly
The American journalist started her career as a corporate defense attorney. In 2003, however, Kelly moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the ABC affiliate WJLA-TV as a general assignment reporter.
The following year, she joined Fox News as a news anchor. Kelly remained there till 2017. During her time at Fox News, Kelly hosted ‘America Live’, and prior to that, co-hosted ‘America's Newsroom’ with Bill Hemmer. Kelly also hosted ‘The Kelly File’ from October 2013 to January 2017.
In August 2015, then-presidential nominee Donald Trump, after a Fox debate, made disparaging comments on Kelly: “Blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
Kelly's contract was set to expire in 2017, and she left before that happened. She joined NBC News as a talk show host and correspondent and worked there from 2017 to 2018.
Her program there, titled ‘Megyn Kelly Today’ was canceled on October 26, 2018, and she departed NBC in January 2019. She told TMZ earlier this year that she would be back on TV in 2019. But she provided no details regarding that.
Gretchen Carlson
The former television commentator, journalist, and author was crowned 1989 Miss America, representing her native state of Minnesota. In 1990, Carlson secured a role on WRIC-TV as a co-anchor and political commentator.
After working with several small networks, Carlson joined CBS News in 2000, where she was the co-anchor of the Saturday edition of ‘The Early Show’. At Fox News, Carlson was initially the weekend substitute host for ‘Fox & Friends’.
In 2006, however, she became a regular weekday host for the show and it stayed that way till in September 2013 when she became an anchor for a one-hour daytime program, ‘The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson’. In 2016, Carlson alleged that she was fired from her program for refusing Ailes' sexual advances.
On September 6, 2016, 21st Century Fox announced it had settled the lawsuit with Carlson. She has since published a book, ‘Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back,’ and advocated for the end of forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts. She says these clauses have enabled workplace harassment by silencing women, burying their allegations and keeping predators on the job.
Roger Ailes
The former Fox News CEO is now dead. Born on May 15, 1940, Ailes suffered from hemophilia, a medical condition in which the body is unable to properly produce blood clots.
Ailes's career in television began in Cleveland and Philadelphia, where he started as a Production Assistant in 1961. By 1967, he was an Executive Producer for KYW-TV. Richard Nixon's successful presidential campaign was Ailes' first venture into politics.
In 1984, Ailes worked on the campaign to re-elect Ronald Reagan. In 1987 and 1988, Ailes guided George H. W. Bush to victory in the Republican primaries, and later, to victory over Michael Dukakis.
Ailes was hired by Rupert Murdoch in 1996 to become the CEO of Fox News. After the departure of Lachlan Murdoch from News Corporation, Ailes was named Chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group on August 15, 2005. At Fox News, Ailes was instrumental in giving the news channel its right-wing agenda.
Rupert Murdoch
The Australian-born American media mogul who founded News Corp was born in 1931. The son of a famous war correspondent and newspaper publisher, Murdoch inherited his father's papers, the Sunday Mail and the News.
In the 1970s, he started buying American newspapers. Murdoch branched out into entertainment with the purchase of 20th Century Fox Film Corp. in 1985 and later sparked the transformation of the cable TV landscape by introducing Fox News.
In 2011, his London tabloid, The News of the World, was caught up in a phone-hacking scandal. Several editors and journalists were brought up on charges for illegally accessing the voicemails of some of Britain's leading figures.
The same year, he shut down The News of the World and later paid damages to few of the people who were hacked. After Ailes’ departure as chairman and CEO of Fox News and the Fox Television Stations Group in 2016, Murdoch assumed his role temporarily. In 2017, Murdoch sold much of 21st Century Fox to the Walt Disney Company.