In contrast is Carlson, whose lawsuit against the late Roger Ailes set off a chain reaction of men at the Fox News Network getting their comeuppance—at least temporarily. In an interview with Gabriel Sherman at Vanity Fair, Carlson talks about what her life has been like since coming forward about being sexually harassed on the job. Not that easy:
Every day has been surreal. For the most part it’s been a positive and rewarding part of my life, not that there also haven’t been painful times. It’s not like I wake up every day saying, I’m so glad I’m the face of this issue! It’s been emotionally trying on that front. But as I started hearing from women, I felt a duty to try and make something of it. For so long women have been silenced on this issue. I felt if I didn’t do it, who was going to?
Carlson does say she’s been busy with lots of projects she couldn’t commit to if she were still working as a TV anchor. She teamed up with non-profit All In Together to work on a campaign that reaches out to women with few economic resources to discuss domestic violence and workplace harassment. She also wrote a book, Be Fierce, about why women don’t always come forward when sexually harassed or assaulted. When asked if she’d be promoting it on Fox, she says:
On Tuesday night, Bill O’Reilly returned to Fox News to promote his book. Do you have plans to be on Fox to promote your book?
No.
What did you think of O’Reilly being allowed back on after it was revealed he paid $13 million to settle harassment claims made against him?
It’s disappointing that somebody who was fired from Fox would be given a venue to come back on as a guest, especially based on the reasons that surrounded it.
Carlson believes there’s been progress for women in recent years in regards to openly discussing sexual harassment, but that the progress doesn’t match the perception:
The negative side is that we thought we had come a lot farther along in 2017. One of the things that fools society into thinking we have come this far is that we often don’t hear about these cases because they’re settled in forced arbitration. They’re secret.
Speaking of secrets, Carlson wouldn’t admit to who she voted for in the 2016 presidential election, saying there were “flaws” with both candidates. However, she did make her kids listen to the Access Hollywood Pussygate tapes to teach them “how not to treat people.” Carlson still doesn’t want to admit that the Republican party has much to do with stymieing efforts to reduce the abuse of women:
But it doesn’t seem like Republicans are champing at the bit to talk about sexual harassment. They nominated Donald Trump after all.
I’m really trying to make this a bipartisan effort. When a sexual predator wants to harass someone they don’t ask them what political party they are. This is why everyone should care about it. We shouldn’t be separated by politics.
You can read the whole interview here.
