It’s been almost a four years since former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson sued her former boss Roger Ailes and Fox News for sexual assault and harassment (he denied all claims), but the effects are still rippling. Since Carlson came out with her accusations, more than 20 women have followed, prompting the resignation of Ailes, the network calling for an independent investigation into the the culture at Fox News and ultimately resulting in a $20 million settlement and an apology for Carlson.
Carlson’s insistence on talking about the alleged harassment and the precedent she set for other women to come out and do the same has also prompted external investigations into Fox News. Earlier this year, the New York Times, for example, broke the news that Bill O’Reilly and the network had made settlements totaling at least $13 million following numerous sexual harassment claims against O’Reilly. (O’Reilly, like Ailes, denies them.) The revelation led to an leading to an advertiser boycott and the ousting of O’Reilly in April.
"It was like jumping off a cliff with no safety net below, but sometimes it takes one person as a change agent for a big cultural issue," she said, speaking at the fifth annual Forbes Women’s Summit. "The past year has been a real surreal experience with highs and lows but mostly highs because my action helped start a movement."
In this clip recorded in 2017 at the Forbes Women’s Summit, Carlson discusses how her actions affected her life on a day-to-day scale, but why she doesn’t regret sparking the country-wide movement to combat sexual harassment in the workplace.
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