21st Century Fox Paid Out $45 Million Over Fox News Harassment Settlements
Parent company 21st Century Fox has spent $45 million in settlements relating to sexual harassment allegations at Fox News.
In its quarterly report filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the media company revealed it had paid out $10 million in settlements in the first three months of 2017, bringing the total to $45 million.
In its filing, the company said the payments were "related to settlements of pending and potential litigations."
Among the recipients is former Fox and Friends co-host Gretchen Miles, who received a $20 million settlement after filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against former chairman and CEO Roger Ailes last July. Ailes resigned two weeks later.
The rest of the sum was paid in smaller amounts to unknown women.
The amount does not account for the exit payment given to Ailes, reported to be in the region of $20 million.
Fox News has been roiled by a series of sexual harassment scandals in recent months, with former top-rated anchor Bill O'Reilly parting ways with the network after The New York Times reported that he and Fox had paid out $13 million to women who alleged he had verbally abused and sexually harassed them.
The company is currently under federal investigation for allegedly concealing details of the harassment settlements from shareholders.
However the scandals have not dented Fox News' ratings, which have continued to outstrip those of rivals. In a conference call with media Wednesday Fox News executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch said that the channel scored record ratings in the first three months of 2017.
