The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--And Divided a Country (85 page)

  
86.
“This is what he does”
Bill O’Reilly, “Profiting from Malice,”
Foxnews.com
, June 3, 2003,
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2003/06/03/profiting-from-malice/
.

  
87.
He told Fox
Kitman,
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up
, 232; author interview with a senior Fox executive.

  
88.
On August 7
Fox News Network, LLC v. Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
, 2003 W.L. 23281520 (2003), complaint,
http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/ip/foxpenguin80703cmp.pdf
, accessed Sept. 19, 2013.

  
89.
Penguin’s outside counsel
Kitman,
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up
, 233.

  
90.
“Is Fox really claiming”
Ibid., 234.

  
91.
It was ironic
Ibid., 235.

  
92.
Penguin rushed
Lies
Emily Eakin, “Among Best-Selling Authors the Daggers Are Out,”
New York Times
, Oct. 5, 2003.

  
93.
“It’s time to return”
“Fair or Not, Fox Drops Suit Against Franken,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, Aug. 26, 2003.

  
94.
He launched a show
Seth Sutel, “Franken, Garofalo to Take on Limbaugh on New Liberal Radio Network,”
Associated Press
, March 10, 2004.

  
95.
“When somebody calls you”
Kitman,
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up
, 225.

  
96.
But in private
Author interviews with current and former Fox News executives.

  
97.
The letter was hand-delivered
The details of this letter can be found in Richard T. Pienciak, “How Covers Came Off the O’Reilly Fone Sex Scandal: Behind-the-Scenes Look at Her Harassment Rap,” New York
Daily News
, Oct. 24, 2004.

  
98.
Morelli wrote
See
Fox News Network, LLC v. Mackris
, complaint (N.Y. Sup. Ct., 2004); also available at
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/oreilly-female-aide-60m-extort-bid?page=0
, accessed Oct. 30, 2013.

  
99.
He claimed
Robert Kolker, “Benedict Morelli Feels Your Pain,”
New York
, March 13, 2000.

100.
Morelli’s client
Kitman,
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up
, 249.

101.
“Dianne would often say”
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

102.
“Not my politics”
Author interview with a media talent agent.

103.
“The whole Fox culture”
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

104.
In their meeting
Pienciak, “How Covers Came Off the O’Reilly Fone Sex Scandal.”

105.
The document stipulated
Mackris v. O’Reilly
, verified complaint (N.Y. Sup. Ct., 2004); also available at
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/oreilly-falafel-suit-turns-five?page=0
. Many of the details in the following paragraphs are taken directly from this complaint.

106.
It wasn’t just
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

107.
“She was a”
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

108.
Feeling underpaid
Heather Gilmore, “How ‘Buddies’ Andrea and Bill Entered Their Tailspin Zone,”
New York Post
, Oct. 24, 2004.

109.
In one passage
Kitman,
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up
, 251.

110.
So was Murdoch
Author interview with a Murdoch adviser.

111.
Morelli continued to play hardball
Lloyd Grove and Adam Nichols, “Say O’Reilly Accuser Scoffed at 2M Offer,” New York
Daily News
, Oct. 20, 2004.

112.
Morelli’s refusal
Ibid., 257.

113.
There were unanswered questions
Author interviews with sources familiar with the matter.

114.
“When she was with”
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

115.
On the evening
Pienciak, “How Covers Came Off the O’Reilly Fone Sex Scandal.”

116.
“If you don’t resolve”
Ibid.

117.
“This is indeed”
Ibid.

118.
Green filed
Ibid.

119.
From the outset
Author interview with a source familiar with the matter.

120.
Except for a few
See Kitman,
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up
, 256.

121.
To gather dirt
“O’Reilly’s Lawyer Explains the Extortion Suit Against Andrea Mackris,”
The Abrams Report
, MSNBC, Oct. 21, 2004,
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6298207/ns/msnbc-the_abrams_report/t/oreillys-lawyer-explains-extortion-suit-against-andrea-mackris/#.UjzOEWQ60y8
.

122.
“This could be”
The Abrams Report
, MSNBC, Oct. 15, 2004.

123.
On October 15
Todd Venezia, “ ‘Flipping Out’—‘Lunatic’ O’Reilly Gal Went Nuts in Bar: Chef,”
New York Post
, Oct. 15, 2004.

124.
A few days later
The details of the meeting with Paratore are derived from the author’s interview with a source familiar with the incident.

125.
On October 19
Dareh Gregorian, “ ‘Boozy’ Boast: Gal Said She’d Ruin O’Reilly: Bar Owner,”
New York Post
, Oct. 19, 2004.

126.
O’Reilly’s lawyer also
Ibid.

127.
On October 17
Paul H. B. Shin, “For Extortion, O’Reilly’s Suit Might Not Fit,” New York
Daily News
, Oct. 17, 2004.

128.
On October 20
Adam Nichols, “Her Dad Mad as Hell, Out to Whup O’Reilly,” New York
Daily News
, Oct. 21, 2004.

129.
He told the paper
Pienciak, “How Covers Came Off the O’Reilly Fone Sex Scandal.”

130.
Brian Lewis told people
Author interview with a source familiar with the matter.

131.
“Word came down”
Author interview with a source involved in the negotiations.

132.
The
Daily News
played
Derek Rose, George Rush, and Nancy Dillon, “Call Him Owe-Reilly! Multi-million Dollar Deal to End Sex-Harass Case,” New York
Daily News
, Oct. 29, 2004.

133.
“This brutal ordeal”
Bill O’Reilly, “Talking Points Memo,”
The O’Reilly Factor
, Fox News Channel, Oct. 28, 2004.

134.
Lewis was disappointed
Author interview with a source familiar with the matter.

135.
Ratings for the
Factor
Sarah Rodman, “From the Hub to Hollywood: Sex Scandal Spins Up O’Reilly Ratings,”
Boston Herald
, Oct. 30, 2004.

136.
On Monday
Ibid.

137.
“About a week”
Kitman,
The Man Who Would Not Shut Up
, 258.

138.
Chernin, who held
Author interviews with current and former News Corp executives.

139.
Chernin also fashioned himself
Wolff,
The Man Who Owns the News
, 45.

140.
Lachlan Murdoch
Details of Lachlan Murdoch’s departure from News Corp come from author’s interviews with current and former News Corp executives.

141.
As deputy COO
Steve Fishman, “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Be King,”
New York
, Sept. 19, 2005.

142.
In early 2005
Jim Finkle, “Can Peter Brennan Rekindle His ‘Affair’?,”
Broadcasting & Cable
, Jan. 9, 2005.

143.
Rejecting the show
Fishman, “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Be King.”

144.
“Do the show”
Ibid.

145.
“Rupert used to say”
Author interview with television executive Mitchell Stern.

146.
On Tuesday, July 26
Fishman, “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Be King.”

147.
“I have to do”
Ibid.

148.
Three days later
Sallie Hofmeister, “Murdoch’s Heir Apparent Abruptly Resigns His Post,”
Los Angeles Times
, July 30, 2005.

149.
“There was a thinking”
Author interview with Mitchell Stern.

150.
In the winter
David Bianculli, “A Revealing Docudrama: ‘Pentagon Papers’ Shows How Cable Outclasses Nets,” New York
Daily News
, March 6, 2003.

151.
He called Peter Liguori
Author interviews with sources familiar with the conversation.

152.
Around this time
The details of this conversation were related to the author by a person with direct knowledge of the exchange.

    
1.
On the evening of April 26
“The Reliable Source” (column),
Washington Post
, April 28, 2006.

    
2.
the newest addition to the Bush
Jennifer Loven, “Fox Host Tony Snow Named White House Spokesman,” Associated Press, April 26, 2006.

    
3.
“Congratulations on your promotion”
George Rush and Joanna Rush Molloy, “As Rosie Joins, Star May Take a Dim ‘View,’ ” New York
Daily News
, April 28, 2006.

    
4.
“Ten years ago”
“The Reliable Source” (column),
Washington Post
, April 28, 2006.

    
5.
More than 2,300
Desmond Butler, “Thousands Converge on Manhattan for Anti-War Demonstration,” Associated Press, April 30, 2006.

    
6.
“Look at these people”
Author interview with a Fox executive.

    
7.
Fox lost about 15 percent
John Dempsey and Michael Learmonth, “Cable Basks in Originals’ Success,”
Variety
, Dec. 25–Dec. 31, 2006.

    
8.
Keith Olbermann
Countdown
, MSNBC (transcript), Dec. 18, 2006.

    
9.
That year
MacKenzie Carpenter, “Anger Becomes Him,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
, Dec. 12, 2006.

  
10.
That summer
Helen Kennedy, “Hil and Rupert Dine on Sly,” New York
Daily News
, July 18, 2006.

  
11.
Ailes told a reporter
Roger Ailes, “A Conversation with Roger Ailes,” transcript of live interview conducted by Ken Auletta, S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, New York, March 31, 2005.

  
12.
Julia Angwin
Julia Angwin, “After Riding High with Fox News, Murdoch Aide Has Harder Slog,”
Wall Street Journal
, Oct. 3, 2006.

  
13.
Fox’s PR department
Author interview with a person familiar with the situation.

  
14.
Later that day
Joshua Chaffin and Aline van Duyn, “Interview with Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes,”
Financial Times
, Oct. 6, 2006.

  
15.
At one point, Steve Doocy
Author interview with a person familiar with the situation.

  
16.
Ailes approached Angwin
Author interview with a person who attended the event.

  
17.
Peter Chernin expressed concern
Author interviews with News Corp executives.

  
18.
“ ‘We don’t want to give’ ”
Author interview with former Fox Television Stations Inc. CEO Mitchell Stern.

  
19.
“He needs to know”
Author interview with a former News Corp executive.

  
20.
“I was watching CNN in 2004”
Author interview with a Fox employee in the room.

  
21.
The next day
David Bauder, “ABC Wins the Election-Night Ratings Race,” Associated Press, Nov. 9, 2006.

  
22.
“We had the concern”
Author interview with a former Fox News executive.

  
23.
“Rush was kind of laughing”
Author interview with a friend of Rush Limbaugh.

  
24.
“We’re in a challenging news cycle”
Chaffin and van Duyn, “Interview with Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes.”

  
25.
“Roger said, ‘Let me think’ ”
Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.

  
26.
Moody told executives
Author interview with a former Fox News executive.

  
27.
“Roger is not a news guy”
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

  
28.
A Fox contributor recalled that Moody
Author interview with a friend of John Moody.

  
29.
“He was aghast”
Author interview with a person close to John Moody.

  
30.
“I look at John”
Author interview with former Fox News producer Adam Sank.

  
31.
But, in early 2006
Author interview with a person familiar with the situation.

  
32.
The MSNBC job
Bill Carter, “New MSNBC Managers,”
New York Times
, June 13, 2006.

  
33.
Kim Hume, the Washington bureau chief
Author interview with a former staffer in the Washington, D.C., bureau of Fox News.

  
34.
Fox and several other outlets
Eric Deggans, “Circumstances Left Many in Media with Inaccurate Reports,”
St. Petersburg Times
, Jan. 5, 2006. See also John MacDonald, “Media, You Failed Me,”
Arizona Republic
, Jan. 8, 2006.

  
35.
In the fall of 2006
Author interview with a former
Mike Douglas
producer.

  
36.
the Los Angeles memorial
“Mike Douglas Tribute Scheduled Saturday,”
Los Angeles Times
, Oct. 19, 2006.

  
37.
The following spring
Fox News, “Joel Cheatwood Named Vice President of Development for Fox News” (press release), Business Wire, April 5, 2007.

  
38.
“Roger would call him Helmet Head”
Author interview with a former colleague of Joel Cheatwood.

  
39.
And at CNN
Colby Hall, “Warning Shots? Glenn Beck to Poach Fox News Bigwig, Suggesting Big Plans,”
Mediaite.com
, March 21, 2011,
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/warning-shots-glenn-beck-to-poach-fox-news-bigwig-foreshadowing-big-plans-2/
.

  
40.
Over the summer
Author interview with a former Fox News executive.

  
41.
“Roger likes things”
Author interview with a Fox News executive.

  
42.
“One person should not”
Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.

  
43.
The show typically had higher ratings
Paul J. Gough, “Larry King Hot Thanks to Hilton,”
Hollywood Reporter
, June 29, 2007.

  
44.
While some observers
Brian Stelter, “Hannity to Go It Alone, Without Colmes,”
New York Times
, Nov. 25, 2008.

  
45.
“Sean was bitter”
Author interview with a former Fox News executive.

  
46.
As the Iraq War
Author interview with a person familiar with the situation.

  
47.
“There were times”
Author interview with a former senior executive at Fox News.

  
48.
“Roger wanted the counterpoint”
Author interview with a former senior Fox executive.

  
49.
As a stopgap
Brian Stelter, “It’s ‘Hannity’s America’ Starting This Sunday,”
TVNewswer.com
, Jan. 4, 2007.

  
50.
“I want you guys”
Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.

  
51.
In the fall of 2008
Brian Stelter, “One Half of ‘Hannity & Colmes’ Is Leaving,” “Media Decoder” (blog),
New York Times
, Nov. 24, 2008,
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/one-half-of-hannity-colmes-is-leaving/
.

  
52.
Katon Dawson
Author interview with former South Carolina Republican Party chairman Katon Dawson.

  
53.
On February 14
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, “Reagan Presidential Library Foundation to Host GOP Presidential Candidates’ Debate” (press release), Feb. 14, 2007,
http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2008/primdeb08/reagan021407pr.html
.

  
54.
moderated by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews
Liz Sidoti, “Ten Republicans Meet Thursday in First GOP Presidential Debate,” Associated Press, May 3, 2007.

  
55.
Frederick Ryan Jr
. Mike Allen, “Mitt’s Moment,”
Politico
, May 4, 2007,
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/3841.html
.

  
56.
“Roger likes to win”
Author interview with
Politico
president Frederick Ryan Jr.

  
57.
Fox hosts
Fox News,
The Five
(transcript of May 3, 2012, broadcast), Finance Wire, May 3, 2012.

  
58.
On March 8
Erik Schelzig, “Fred Thompson for President?,” Associated Press, March 10, 2007.

  
59.
A couple of months earlier
CNN,
Reliable Sources
(transcript), Jan. 21, 2007; John Gibson,
The Big Story
, Fox News Channel (transcript), Jan. 19, 2007.

  
60.
Robert Gibbs
Author interview with an adviser to President Barack Obama.

  
61.
On March 9
Ryan Grim, “Nevada Dems Nix Fox Debate,”
Politico
, March 9, 2007.

  
62.
Around this time
Chafets,
Roger Ailes
, 27.

  
63.
On March 29
Fox News, “Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute Present Two Presidential Debates for the 2008 Campaign,” Business Wire (press release), March 29, 2007.

  
64.
One week later
Kate Phillips, “D.N.C. Shuns Fox in Debate Schedule,” The Caucus (blog),
New York Times
, April 5, 2007,
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/dnc-shuns-fox-in-debate-schedule
.

  
65.
The next day
Kate Phillips, “Two Democrats Avoid Debate on Fox News,”
New York Times
, April 10, 2007.

  
66.
Ailes called them
Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.

  
67.
In April
Russ Buettner, “In Fox News, Led by an Ally, Giuliani Finds a Friendly Stage,”
New York Times
, Aug. 2, 2007.

  
68.
A study found
Alex Koppelman and Erin Renzas, “Rudy Giuliani’s Ties to Fox News,”
Salon
, Nov. 15, 2007, citing a study by
Hotline
.

  
69.
Judith Regan
Russ Buettner, “Ex-Publisher’s Suit Plays a Giuliani-Kerik Angle,”
New York Times
, Nov. 14, 2007.

  
70.
In 2006
Vanessa Grigoriadis, “Even Bitches Have Feelings,”
New York
, Feb. 5, 2007.

  
71.
In 2002
Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.

  
72.
Regan told the press
Jonathan Bing, “The Write Stuff,”
Daily Variety
, Dec. 18, 2002.

  
73.
Regan had even relocated
Edward Wyatt, “O. J. Simpson Writes a Book He’ll Discuss on Fox TV,”
New York Times
, Nov. 15, 2006.

  
74.
The whole thing
Josef Adalian, “O.J. to Tell How He’d Murder on Fox Spec,”
Variety.com
, Nov. 14, 2006,
http://variety.com/2006/scene/news/o-j-to-tell-how-he-d-murder-on-fox-spec-1117953915/
.

  
75.
News Corp pulled the plug
Bill Carter and Edward Wyatt, “Under Pressure, News Corp. Pulls Simpson Project,”
New York Times
, Nov. 21, 2006.

  
76.
Stories of her office rage
Grigoriadis, “Even Bitches Have Feelings.”

  
77.
In December
Steven Zeitchik, “Regan Ousted from HarperCollins,”
Variety.com
, Dec. 15, 2006,
http://variety.com/2006/biz/news/regan-ousted-from-harpercollins-1117955887/
.
See also Steven Zeitchik, “Regan’s Fate Is Unwritten,”
Daily Variety
, Dec. 18, 2006.

  
78.
Accounts soon leaked
Julie Bosman and Richard Siklos, “Fired Editor’s Remarks Said to Have Provoked Murdoch,”
New York Times
, Dec. 18, 2006. See also Josh Getlin, “Regan Was Fired After Slur, News Corp. Says,”
Los Angeles Times
, Dec. 19, 2006.

  
79.
The complaint
Patricia Hurtado, “Publisher Regan Says News Corp. Fired Her to Protect Giuliani,”
Bloomberg News
, Nov. 14, 2007. See also
Judith Regan v. HarperCollins Publishers LLC
, 603758/2007, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).

  
80.
Giuliani’s disgraced former police commissioner
Jim Fitzgerald, “Bernard Kerik Pleads Not Guilty to Corruption Charges,” Associated Press, Nov. 9, 2007.

  
81.
Regan would later allege
Russ Buettner, “Fox News Chief Is Said to Urge Lying in Inquiry,”
New York Times
, Feb. 25, 2011. In February 2011,
The New York Times
broke the news that Regan had claimed in court papers that Ailes was the unnamed News Corp executive who had urged her to lie to investigators to protect Rudy Giuliani’s presidential prospects. Blogs speculated that, now that Ailes’s name was public, he opened himself up to being indicted on obstruction of justice charges. “Roger was really scared,” a Fox executive said. “I knew because he just never talked about the news.” News Corp defended him, informing the
Times
that the company had a letter from Regan stating that Ailes did not intend to influence her role in the investigation. When the scandal blew over without any indictment materializing, Ailes returned to his blustery self. He called the
Times
a “bunch of lying scum” during a speech.