Is Fox News honcho Roger Ailes working on a tell-all?
New York Magazine contributing editor Gabriel Sherman reported on Monday that Ailes is negotiating with HarperCollins for an advance between $3 and $4 million for his autobiography.
Who owns HarperCollins? News Corp., which as you probably know, also owns Fox.
How did Fox respond to the report? Bemused mockery.
From a Fox spokesperson: “There is one source with direct knowledge of Roger’s plans…and that’s Roger himself. Since Roger has never spoken to Gabe in his life, we continue to be fascinated with Gabe’s uncanny ability to read his mind.”
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Note that the statement doesn’t deny the rumor, but it may also be another example what Fox likes to call its refusal to “punch down.”
Between his frequent writing on the cable news world and his upcoming book on Fox News, Sherman knows a thing or two about the network. That doesn’t mean this is true, but let’s hope it is.
Ailes has had quite the career from his early work with Richard Nixon to his years atop the Fox News pyramid. And given the spate of interviews he has granted in the past year, he may just be ready to open up.
Can you imagine the stories he has from well before his Fox days? Or his stories about Rupert and the other Murdochs? Not that the latter would be included.