HarperCollins Pushes Ahead With Plans for Roger Ailes Memoir
August 18 2016 - 1:19PM
Dow Jones News
By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg
Roger Ailes has a story to tell. And HarperCollins Publishers is
still eager to publish it, despite Mr. Ailes's recent ouster as the
head of Fox News, another branch of the Rupert Murdoch media
empire.
A HarperCollins employee says the publishing house is willing to
push ahead with the memoir Mr. Ailes signed on to write four years
ago -- depending on how frank and compelling the manuscript proves
to be when it is submitted.
Meanwhile, 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News,
continues to investigate accusations of sexual harassment against
Mr. Ailes, which includes a lawsuit by a former anchor.
21st Century Fox and News Corp, which owns HarperCollins and The
Wall Street Journal, were split in 2013 and still count the Murdoch
family as a major shareholder. Mr. Murdoch, who is executive
chairman of both companies, assumed the role of chairman and acting
chief executive of Fox News after Mr. Ailes resigned July 21.
Long before the controversy broke out, HarperCollins and Robert
Barnett, Mr. Ailes's agent, struck a book deal in 2012, according
to the HarperCollins employee familiar with the situation. Mr.
Ailes's memoir was envisioned as a behind-the-scenes tale that
blended larger-than-life figures from the worlds of politics,
business and media, this person said.
HarperCollins believes that a memoir by Mr. Ailes, who formed
deep ties to the Republican establishment before building the
leading cable news network, has plenty of potential commercial
appeal, even though it is unclear how much Mr. Ailes would be able
to say about his recent resignation.
"This book has so much potential," said the HarperCollins
employee. "But you can't publish it in the middle of all this
uncertainty. The legal process has to run its course, as does the
election. You need time, space and perspective. Books by celebrity
authors get delayed all the time."
Mr. Ailes told the Hollywood Reporter last year that he was
writing his memoir for HarperCollins because he didn't want his son
"to have to collect a bunch of New York Times articles to see what
I was like."
His situation changed dramatically in July. Former Fox News host
Gretchen Carlson sued Mr. Ailes, alleging that she was fired after
rejecting his sexual advances and complaining about a hostile work
environment. Mr. Ailes, who has denied the allegations, resigned
after agreeing to an exit package valued at more than $40 million.
The number of women who have come forward to investigators to say
they were also victims of Mr. Ailes has climbed into the
double-digits, according to people familiar with the matter.
HarperCollins is already planning to publish a memoir by Fox
News anchor Megyn Kelly, which promises the scoop on her feud with
Donald Trump when it comes out a week after the election.
Booksellers say they are anxious to find out if the book, "Settle
for More," also contains revelations regarding Mr. Ailes. Ms. Kelly
has been publicly silent on Mr. Ailes's resignation, but New York
Magazine reported in mid-July that she told investigators that he
made unwanted advances toward her years earlier, which he has
denied.
It couldn't be learned whether Mr. Ailes's deal to exit Fox News
includes a nondisclosure agreement that prevents him from publicly
discussing his departure. A spokesman for 21st Century Fox declined
to comment on the terms of Mr. Ailes's exit.
Mr. Barnett declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Ailes didn't
respond to a request for comment, and Mr. Ailes didn't respond to a
written request for an interview.
Mr. Ailes, a veteran television producer and political
consultant who worked with former Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald
Reagan and George H.W. Bush, led the launch of the Fox News Channel
in 1996. He helped build the network into the country's
most-watched cable news network while playing a key role in the
careers of such Fox News stars as Bill O'Reilly and Ms. Kelly.
Mr. Ailes's first book, "You Are the Message," was written with
Jon Kraushar and published in 1987 by Irwin Professional
Publishing, an imprint owned by McGraw-Hill Education.
Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at
jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 18, 2016 13:04 ET (17:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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