The film-maker who took on Scientology and the Catholic church has now set his sights on the controversial media mogul and Republican presidential advisor

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Oscar-winning documentary-maker Alex Gibney is to target fallen former Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes in his next film.

Gibney, who specialises in films about controversial subjects such as the Church of Scientology (Going Clear), WikiLeaks (We Steal Secrets) and clerical sex abuse (Mea Maxima Culpa), told the Hollywood Reporter he is working on a film about Ailes, but would not provide any details, saying: “As a matter of course, I don’t talk about what I’m working on.”

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Ailes, who started out as a producer in local television before acting as a media adviser to a string of Republican presidents – Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush – became the founding CEO of Fox News in 1996. He resigned from the position in 2016 after Fox News anchors Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly made sexual harassment allegations. It was subsequently reported that Ailes helped Donald Trump with his presidential campaign, but Trump’s team issued a denial.

Ailes’ downfall has proved catnip for film-makers: a feature film about the harassment scandal is in the works, with The Big Short writer Charles Randolph on board, while a TV miniseries based on Gabriel Sherman’s Ailes biography The Loudest Voice in the Room is also in development.