What about all those other Fox News harassers?
Let’s just say that even if Hannity has never once come on inappropriately to any women in the workplace, the place was obviously such a disgusting environment that he had to have seen it and condoned it. This kind of behavior is not only noticed by everyone, the boys in these workplaces talk about it amongst themselves. He knew.
But there’s another Fox News sexist who seems to have escaped scrutiny and it’s weird because he’s at the center of it — and has shown his colors on the air over and over again. Think Progress has the story:
It all started with Steve Doocy.
On July 6, 2016, former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson sued Roger Ailes, alleging she was sexually harassed. The suit prompted an investigation of Ailes, his eventual firing, and a $20 million settlement for Carlson.
The investigation of Ailes, and the public standard it set for Fox News, set the precedent for the ouster of Bill O’Reilly last week, following numerous allegations of sexual harassment.
But Carlson’s problems with Ailes began when she complained to him about the conduct of Steve Doocy, her co-host on Fox & Friends.
According to Carlson’s complaint, Doocy “engaged in a pattern and practice of severe and pervasive sexual harassment of Carlson.”
Doocy was not named as a defendant. But Carlson claimed Doocy created a “hostile work environment” by treating her in a “sexist and condescending way,” regarding her as a “blond female prop.”
When Carlson complained to Ailes about Doocy’s conduct, he told her that she needed to “get along with the boys.” Things went downhill from there.
Ten months later, Ailes and O’Reilly are gone. But Steve Doocy is still on the air every weekday starting at 6AM, his conduct largely absent from discussions of sexual harassment at Fox News.
About a month after Carlson filed her lawsuit, a former staffer for Fox & Friends told Politico that “[e]veryone on staff knew about or saw Doocy make inappropriate comments, but most people just rolled their eyes at it.”
Some inappropriate and sexist treatment of Carlson by Doocy and co-host Brian Kilmeade made it on air. It was captured in devastating fashion by Bloomberg News.
There is no indication that they have any intention of doing something about Doocy. But there’s good reason for that. While he is the single most brain dead member of any Fox show — and that is quite a feat — he has one very important fan:
Doocy sticks out as an especially strident supporter of Donald Trump in a network full of strident supporters of Donald Trump.
One thing that didn’t faze Doocy was the tape of Trump on Access Hollywood bragging about sexual assault. Doocy described the entire incident as a “covert attempt to derail the Trump train.”
Since becoming President, Trump has rewarded Doocy and his co-hosts with extensive access, including a recent interview in the Oval Office.
Gotta keep Orange Julius Caesar happy.
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