Following backlash to remarks Rupert Murdoch made that downplayed sexual misconduct at Fox News, 21st Century Fox came out in defense of its executive chairman on Saturday.
When Sky News host Ian King asked Murdoch on Thursday, “How harmful has the whole raft of sexual harassment allegations been for the business?,” the exec replied “That’s all nonsense.”
“Rupert never characterized the sexual harassment matters at Fox News as ‘nonsense,’” a 21st Century Fox spokesperson said in a statement. “Rather, he responded negatively to the suggestion that sexual harassment issues were an obstacle to the Company’s bid for the rest of Sky.”
In the interview with Sky, the executive co-chairman of Fox called harassment accusation raised against the then-chief executive Roger Ailes an “isolated incident.”
Murdoch went on to add, “As soon as we investigated he was out of the place in hours – well three or four days. And there has been nothing else since then. That was largely political because we are conservative. The liberals are going down the drain. NBC is in deep trouble. There are really bad cases and people should be moved aside. There are other things – which probably amount to a bit of flirting.”
The Fox spokesperson concurred with Murdoch Saturday, saying, “Under Rupert’s leadership and with his total support, the Company exited Roger Ailes, compensated numerous women who were mistreated; trained virtually all of its employees; exited its biggest star; and hired a new head of HR. By his actions, Rupert has made it abundantly clear that he understands that there were real problems at Fox News. Rupert values all of the hard-working colleagues at Fox News, and will continue to address these matters to ensure Fox News maintains its commitment to having a work environment based on the values of trust and respect.”