# Gretchen Carlson The woman who brought down Roger Ailes. On July 6, 2016, Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against [[Roger Ailes]], the founder and chairman of [[Fox News]], alleging she had been fired in retaliation for rejecting his sexual advances. The lawsuit triggered an internal investigation, over 20 additional women came forward, and Ailes was forced to resign within weeks — ending the two-decade reign of the most powerful figure in conservative media. [counterweight] ## Background Born June 21, 1966, in Anoka, Minnesota. Miss America 1989 (the first classical violinist to win). Stanford University (BA, sociology, honors). Worked at various local and national TV outlets before joining Fox News in 2005. At Fox, Carlson co-hosted *Fox & Friends* (2006–2013), then hosted *The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson* (2013–2016). ## The Lawsuit Carlson's lawsuit alleged that Ailes had made unwanted sexual advances, that she was subjected to a hostile work environment, and that she was fired when she refused to comply. The lawsuit was filed in New Jersey state court (avoiding Fox's mandatory arbitration clause, which covered Fox employees but not claims against Ailes personally). Within weeks, over 20 women came forward with similar allegations. [[Megyn Kelly]] confirmed that Ailes had harassed her early in her career. The Murdoch family hired the law firm Paul Weiss to investigate. Ailes resigned July 21, 2016, with $40 million in severance. 21st Century Fox settled Carlson's lawsuit in September 2016 for a reported **$20 million** and issued a public apology — one of the few times the company has apologized for anything. ## Post-Fox Carlson became an advocate for ending forced arbitration in sexual harassment cases. Her advocacy contributed to the passage of the **Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act** (signed into law March 2022), which allows victims to take sexual harassment claims to court rather than being forced into secret arbitration proceedings. She served as chair of the Miss America Organization (2018–2020), overseeing the elimination of the swimsuit competition. ## Analytical Framework Carlson is the KB's clearest example of a whistleblower succeeding against the conservative media infrastructure — but only because the behavior she exposed was so pervasive that corroboration was overwhelming, and because she found a legal strategy (suing Ailes personally, not Fox) that bypassed the institutional protections. ## See Also - [[Roger Ailes]] — The predator she brought down - [[Megyn Kelly]] — The Fox star whose corroboration strengthened the case - [[Fox News]] — The institution that protected Ailes until it couldn't