Gretchen Carlson, Julie Roginsky, and Diana Falzone — all former Fox News hosts or reporters — have created a new advocacy group to fight back against non-disclosure agreements or forced arbitration clauses in the workplace.
Lift Our Voices aims to “create a seismic cultural shift where all current and former workers and volunteers are able to speak truth to power without adverse consequences and fear of retaliation,” according to its website. To do so, the group is setting its sights on the aforementioned NDAs, forced arbitration clauses, and other confidentiality agreements that are often used in contracts to silence survivors of workplace sexual harassment.
Julie Roginsky, pictured in 2017. (Fox News)
“If there are companies that we feel are abusing their NDA process, to malign women or to protect a toxic work environment, we will build our digital army and we will send out a call to action to boycott their project,” Roginsky told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.
Carlson and Roginsky also told THR that they are hoping to get industry leaders to pledge to stop using NDAs for the purposes of silencing victims or otherwise covering up incidents of workplace misconduct.
In October, Carlson, Roginsky, and Falzone called on Fox News to release them from their NDAs. “None of us asked to get into a workplace dispute,” Carlson told Vanity Fair at the time. We simply had the courage to stand up and say something — but in the end it’s our voices no one can hear. Because of our NDAs, we can never say what is factually correct or incorrect about what happened to us at Fox.” (A representative for Fox News did not respond to a request for comment at the time.)
But now, with this new advocacy group, the three women are looking to make change across the industry.
“If companies want to be on the right side of history, they will be on our team,” Carlson said. “Because the only way we are going to solve this issue is to have a much more open dialogue and let people speak.”
11 Women Who Have Left Fox News Shows, From Megyn Kelly to Laurie Dhue (Photos)
Fox News has enhanced the careers of numerous women who have served as hosts. All were hired by Roger Ailes, the former network boss who exited in August 2016 amid a sexual harassment scandal.
Greta Van Susteren -- who had been one of Ailes' most stalwart defenders -- left in early September 2016 after saying that Fox had "not felt like a home" for years.
Laurie Dhue was a familiar presence on Fox in the early 2000s but left the network in 2008. She has reportedly been shopping a tell-all book this year.
Outspoken host Elisabeth Hasselbeck left "The View" to join "Fox & Friends" in 2013, which she exited at the end of 2015.
Andrea Tantaros, former co-host of "The Five," filed a lawsuit saying that Fox News operated like a "sex-fueled, Playboy-Mansion-like cult."
Alisyn Camerota hosted a number of Fox News programs during a 16-year run that ended in 2014. She now hosts "New Day" on CNN.
Rudi Bakhtiar jumped from CNN to Fox News in 2006. She claimed she was sexually harassed by correspondent Brian Wilson and later spoke out against Fox News' culture after the Ailes scandal broke. She now works at Reuters.
Kiran Chetry was a Fox News host from 2001 to 2007. She was reportedly also an aspirant for a role on "Fox & Friends," the network's morning show.
Libertarian commentator Jedediah Bila appeared on Fox's "Outnumbered" and later turned up on ABC's "The View."
Her lawsuit started it all: Former Fox host Gretchen Carlson claims Ailes repeatedly sexually harassed her. Her suit was later settled for a reported $20 million.
Megyn Kelly ended her 12-year run with Fox News in early 2017 in exchange for a weekday show at NBC. She turned down a four-year, $100 million offer to stay with Fox News saying that one of the reasons for her departure was to spend more time with her kids. Kelly said she was among those at Fox News sexually harassed by Ailes.
"Happening Now" anchor Jenna Lee announced that she was leaving the Fox News after working there for 10 years. Lee said she still loves being a journalist and that she has "some really big ideas on how to better serve you in that particular arena" without Fox News.
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The Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly scandals have cast even some old departures in a new light
Fox News has enhanced the careers of numerous women who have served as hosts. All were hired by Roger Ailes, the former network boss who exited in August 2016 amid a sexual harassment scandal.