Maybe Megyn Kelly will soon be able to book Oscar-winner Charlize Theron for her NBC talk show. According to Deadline , Theron has been cast as the former Fox News Channel host in a movie about the sexual harassment scandal that rocked the network in 2016. Theron is also producing the project
The untitled ensemble film from Annapurna Pictures will be written by Charles Randolph ( The Big Short ) and directed by Jay Roach ( Game Change ). It will center on the numerous women who allegedly suffered sexual harassment at the hands of Fox News’ late chairman and CEO, Roger Ailes.
Many of Ailes’ victims were female hosts of some of the network’s most popular programs. As reported by CNN , Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson was the first to speak out about her former boss’ inappropriate behavior. On July 6, 2016, she filed a lawsuit against Ailes accusing him of firing her because she refused his sexual advances.
Carlson’s story will undoubtedly be told in the movie about the toxic work environment that so many women were forced to navigate during their tenure at Fox News. However, so far there’s no word on which actresses are being considered for the role of the woman who inspired numerous others to come forward with their own horror stories about Roger Ailes and other powerful men at Fox News.
According to the Hollywood Reporter , other Fox News personalities who may be portrayed in the movie include Greta Van Susteren and Bill O’Reilly. Shortly after she filed her lawsuit against Roger Ailes, Gretchen Carlson complained that Van Susteren had accused her of lying about being sexually harassed by their boss. Van Susteren also initially defended Ailes by saying that she had witnessed no such behavior over the course of the 15 years that she knew him. However, she later said that she regretted doubting Carlson’s story.
As reported by the Daily Beast , Bill O’Reilly took Roger Ailes’ side by saying that he stood by his boss “100 percent.” Just months later, O’Reilly would be given the boot due to his own sexual harassment scandal.
Based on the description of the Roger Ailes movie, it will mostly focus on the time period surrounding the filing of Gretchen Carlson’s bombshell lawsuit and the aftermath of it. Megyn Kelly initially remained silent when Carlson came forward, later revealing that she was privately being asked to publicly defend Ailes over and over again. However, she kept refusing to do so.
According to New York Magazine , Kelly finally broke her silence by recounting her own uncomfortable experiences with Ailes during an interview with 21st Century Fox investigators.
As reported by People , Kelly also detailed her boss’ inappropriate behavior in her memoir, Settle For More . The former host of The Kelly File accused Ailes of forcibly trying to kiss her in 2006 and suggesting that she could lose her job if she didn’t succumb to his unwanted advances. Ailes vehemently denied the allegations.
Roger Ailes resigned from Fox News in July, 2016, and died less than a year later at age 77. There’s no word on who is being considered for the role of the media mogul whose monstrous behavior caused so many women to suffer in silence for years.