Fox News has been on a pushback of sorts against a new biography of Roger Ailes that paints the head of the network in a less-than-flattering light, accusing author Gabriel Sherman of doing a shoddy job of fact-checking. Ailes made that very charge himself in an interview, but Sherman shot back today, telling POLITICO that all his requests to interview Ailes himself were turned down.
Salacious details within the book include accusations that Ailes once trashed a rival exec with words like “little” and “Jew,” and that he once offered a female employee another $100 a week in salary if she would have sex with him on his terms. Fox, Ailes, and the rival exec have all categorically denied these claims, but Sherman stands by the details of his book.
He told POLITICO that all of his requests to speak directly to Ailes were turned down:
“During two and a half years of reporting, I made a dozen requests both in writing and in person to speak with Roger Ailes about every aspect of my book, The Loudest Voice in the Room,” Sherman told POLITICO in a statement. “A team of two fact-checkers spent more than 2,000 hours vetting the manuscript before publication. Roger Ailes declined every request to discuss the reporting with me.”
Fox News confirmed to Mediaite that Sherman only put in interview requests for Ailes and that neither Sherman nor Random House bothered to submit a specific list of items to fact-check for the book. Ailes even told The Hollywood Reporter, “that Random House refused to fact check the content with me or Fox News — that tells you everything you need to know about this book and its agenda.”
[photo via Fred Prouser/Reuters]
— —
Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
