Report in New York magazine says the Murdochs will ask Ailes to resign or face dismissal in wake of high-profile lawsuit filed by anchor Gretchen Carlson

Rupert Murdoch is reportedly preparing to fire Fox News chairman and chief executive Roger Ailes following allegations that he axed one of the station’s star anchors after she refused to have sex with him.



Murdoch, and his sons James and Lachlan, are said to have decided that Ailes, one of the most powerful executives in US media, should be dropped from the station he helped found 20 years ago, which has grown into one of the most profitable news brands in the world.

Gretchen Carlson's lawyer: 'deluge' of women have complaints about Ailes Read more

New York magazine quoted several unnamed sources claiming the Murdochs, who run Fox’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, have made the decision to part ways with Ailes and he could be removed with days. In a statement, 21st Century Fox said: “This matter is not yet resolved and the review is not concluded.” The company refused to answer any further questions about the situation.

Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) BREAKING: The Murdochs have decided to remove Roger Ailes, possibly within days. My latest: https://t.co/0hP9G6fUIf

The New York magazine report, written by Ailes’s biographer Gabriel Sherman, said the Murdochs decided to remove Ailes, 76 and a former adviser to presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, after reviewing a preliminary investigation into the sexual harassment allegations.

Sherman claimed that James Murdoch, 21st Century Fox’s chief executive, thought that Ailes should be asked to resign or be fired this week, while Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, the company’s co-chairmen, believed no action should be taken until after the Republican national convention, currently under way in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ailes is being sued by Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News host, over allegations that she was fired after refusing to have sex with him. Carlson claims her contract was terminated on 23 June, after 11 years at the network, after she rebuffed sexual advances from Ailes and complained about widespread discrimination in the newsroom.

During a meeting with Ailes to discuss Carlson’s concerns about “severe and pervasive sexual harassment”, he allegedly told her: “You and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago, and then you’d be good and better and I’d be good and better.” He allegedly went on to say: “Sometimes problems are easier to solve that way.”

Carlson, 50, a former Miss America, claimed in her lawsuit that after she rejected Ailes’s advances, he retaliated by cutting her pay and then firing her.

“Although this was a difficult step to take, I had to stand up for myself and speak out for all women and the next generation of women in the workplace,” she said in the lawsuit.

Ailes denies the allegations and said in a statement at the time: “This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive, it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously.” He said Carlson was let go because “her disappointingly low ratings were dragging down the afternoon line-up”.

Following the publicity surrounding the lawsuit, several other women have also accused Ailes of sexual harassment. The law firm Paul, Weiss has reportedly been hired to carry out a wide-ranging investigation into the sexual harassment allegations and further concerns about Ailes’s management style. New York magazine said interviews were being conducted in Paul, Weiss offices due to concerns that Fox offices may be bugged. A spokeswoman for the law firm declined to comment.