Four days after Bill O’Reilly was fired from Fox News for sexual harassment, former Fox News reporter and weekend anchor Alisyn Camerota said in an interview on Sunday with CNN’S Brian Stelter that former Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes sexually harassed her. Camerota said she was inspired by the O’Reilly scandal to finally speak out.
Camerota, who’s now a CNN co-anchor, reiterated to Stelter that Ailes—who was fired from Fox over sexual harassment allegations in July, and handed $40 million in severance on his way out the door—acted inappropriately toward several of her former coworkers.
“He also was often kind of grossly inappropriate with things that he would say, and I think that many of us experienced that. He would talk about body parts. He would say, ‘Give me a spin.’ He would want to be greeted with a hug.”
Camerota claimed in the interview that one time Ailes went much farther than that with her, proposing she come to his hotel room in exchange for career opportunities.
“[T]he time that I remember most was when I was first starting out at Fox and I was single, and I remember Roger, being in Roger’s office, and I was saying that I wanted more opportunity,” she said. “He said: ‘Well, I would have to work with you. I would have to work with you on that case. I would have to work with you really closely, and it may require us getting to know each other better, and that might have to happen away from here, and it might have to happen at a hotel. Do you know what I’m saying?’ And I said: ‘Yeah, I think I do know what you’re saying.’”
After she turned him down, Camerota said she felt “embarrassed” and decided not to tell anyone. Ailes continued to “emotionally harass” her after the incident.
On Sunday, an attorney for Ailes, Susan Estrich, denied Camerota’s allegations, calling them “unsubstantiated and false,” according to CNN.
You can watch the complete interview here, on CNN’s website.
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