Caroline Heldman, a former frequent on-air guest at Fox News, said a consultant who worked directly with the network’s late founder Roger Ailes sexually harassed her and bribed her with a job in exchange for sex. Ailes stepped down in disgrace last year amid various sexual harassment claims.
Heldman is an associate professor of politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles and made the claims against the former Ailes’ staffer in a written declaration that was published on Thursday by progressive website Mother Jones. She accuses veteran TV producer Woody Fraser of using “coded language (an ‘arrangement’) on three different occasions, once in New York and twice in Los Angeles, that he wanted to have a sexual relationship.”
Fraser discovered Ailes in the 1960s when he hired him to work on “The Mike Douglas Show,” which launched the career of the man who eventually founded Fox News. Ailes, who was first accused of sexual harassment by Gretchen Carlson, stepped down from atop Fox News when multiple women came forward with similar claims. Heldman said she repeatedly denied Fraser’s sexual advances but he continued to bribe her with offers of a job in exchange for sex.
“Mr. Fraser insinuated on several occasions that a contributorship at Fox was contingent upon me having a sexual relationship with him. Even though I was a popular guest with numerous appearances and high ratings (according to Mr. Fraser), I was not offered a contributorship because I rebuffed Mr. Fraser’s sexual advances,” she wrote.
Heldman also says she came up with an idea for a show called “The Green Room,” which eventually became the network’s hit show, “The Five.” She says she was denied an opportunity to host the show because she refused to have sex with Fraser.
“He has attempted to solicited sex from me on multiple occasions,” Heldman wrote.
Fraser’s lawyer issued the following statement to Mother Jones: “I was disappointed to hear about these allegations as I considered myself a mentor and friend to Ms. Heldman. I continue to wish her nothing but the best.”
A Fox News spokeswoman told TheWrap that Fraser was a Fox consultant, not an employee.