Roger Ailes Goes On the Defensive, Makes Surprising Legal Move

Roger Ailes, former chairman of Fox News who resigned in July after sexual harassment allegations against female employees surfaced, is taking legal action against the magazine and reporter responsible for the scandalous story, New York Times is reporting.

Lauren Starke, a spokesperson for the NYMag.com, confirmed that hotshot lawyer, Charles Harder, who won a $140 million lawsuit for Hulk Hogan against Gawker Media for privacy infringement and who is presently representing Melania Trump in a libel suit against the Daily Mail sent a letter. Starke said Harder had contacted the online magazine via email asking for the safe keeping of all documents relating to Roger Ailes in preparation for a defamation suit.

“New York Media and Gabriel Sherman were contacted by Charles Harder on behalf of Roger and Elizabeth Ailes asking that we preserve documents related to the Ailes for a possible defamation claim.”

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Sherman, author of The Loudest Voice in the Room, an unauthorized biography which exposed the former Fox News man’s sexual exploits of over 20 women has been hailed in quarters for bringing the culture of discrimination at the News network to the fore. Sherman has continued to release scathing articles about Roger Ailes; “The Revenge of Roger’s Angels” is his latest commentary about the scandal and was the cover story on NYMag.com. The letter from Harder’s office arrived Friday, a few hours after the article was published.

According to CNN Money, it is no coincidence that Harder, who is spearheading Melania Trump’s lawsuit against the Daily Mail over defamatory statements made about her being a former escort, is now also the legal muscle for the Ailes family. Sources say Donald Trump and Roger Ailes are friends and that Roger is offering Trump advice ahead of the presidential debates in the fall.

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Sherman corroborated the story, saying Trump recommended a lawyer to Ailes only days after ex-anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment and retaliation suit against the 76-year-old former media executive. The Carlson suit prompted an internal investigation by 21st Century Fox, with six other women with similar sexual harassment accusations coming forward which led to Roger Ailes’ ouster July 21.

In “The Revenge of Roger’s Angels,” Sherman asserts that Ailes’ predatory behavior towards women was an open secret that his superiors did nothing to stop. He added that Roger Ailes was known for making inappropriate comments towards women, asking them to turn around so that he could look at their bodies.

Sherman said the former Fox heavyweight wielded the big stick during his 20-year reign at the network, promoting a culture of fear that stopped victims from speaking out. According to the Rolling Stone, Roger Ailes demanded loyalty from everyone in his circle and was known for hiring private investigators, monitoring phone conversations, and accessing the emails of his employees.

Former Fox & Friends anchor, Gretchen Carlson was the first woman to come forward after Sherman’s book was published in 2014. The former Miss America said Roger Ailes had commented about her tight-fitting clothes and legs constantly, and when she filed a complaint, Ailes called her a “man-hater…who needed to get along with the boys.” Soon after, she was demoted and had her early-morning show bumped off to a dormant 2 p.m. time slot.

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Fox News in a statement revealed that the legal letter sent by Charles Harder, Friday had nothing to do with the company, since Roger Ailes was no longer employed by the media conglomerate. However, two lawyers, Susan Estrich and Mark Mukasey, who continue to handle the former media man’s legal affairs, have come out to slam the author, who interviewed 600 people for the book, but who refused to interview the man he was writing about.

Estrich in a statement described Sherman as a man on a vindictive mission.

“Sherman has made clear that nothing will stand in the way of his vendetta against Roger Ailes, and he will use any woman he can find—no matter how clearly and deeply troubled she is—to try to concoct allegations against Mr. Ailes. Ultimately, it will be clear that the real enemy of women is Gabe Sherman.”

Muskasey dismissed Sherman as a washed-out writer looking for relevance.

“Gabe Sherman is a virus, and is too small to exist on his own, and has obviously attached himself to the Ailes family to try to suck the life out of them. Roger is not going to allow a virus like that to poison the atmosphere.”

Roger Ailes has maintained his innocence, accusing liberal media and the sons of executive chairman, Rupert Murdoch of trying to ruin him.

[Photo by Reed Saxon/AP Images]