The ouster of Bill O’Reilly, the top-rated cable news host, from Fox News capped an extraordinary period of upheaval at the company, marked by a series of sexual harassment allegations that resulted in the downfall of Roger E. Ailes, the powerful chairman of the network, as well as a damaging exodus of advertisers.
Here is a look at the nine and a half months that shook the network.
JULY 6, 2016
Carlson files a harassment suit against Ailes
Gretchen Carlson, a prominent Fox anchor, sends shock waves through the media world when she files a lawsuit against the Fox News chairman, Roger E. Ailes, accusing him of forcing her out after she refused his sexual advances and complained to him about persistent harassment in the newsroom.
Ms. Carlson’s charges included an allegation that Mr. Ailes, during a meeting in his office, explicitly asked her for a sexual relationship, a public attack on a towering figure in broadcast journalism and Republican politics who had typically enjoyed absolute loyalty from his employees.
JULY 20, 2016
More harassment claims against Ailes
The accusations do not stop with Ms. Carlson. The law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, hired by 21st Century Fox, the network’s owner, to investigate Ms. Carlson’s allegations, takes statements from at least six women who describe inappropriate behavior by Mr. Ailes, according to people briefed on the inquiry.
Read more at The New York Times.