Add Greta Van Susteren to the list of Fox News talent taking to Facebook to express regret for her comments about ousted chief Roger Ailes when former colleague Gretchen Carlson filed her sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Van Susteren this week flipped the switch on her contract clause allowing her to exit the network if Ailes, who was shown the door in July, left the operation.
Van Susteren’s regret post follows by a day Geraldo Rivera’s Facebook-full-of-regret post, for having defended former Fox News chief Roger Ailes against accusations of years-long sexual harassment against several of the network’s female employees. Those comments, in turn, came just days after the lawsuit filed by Gretchen Carlson against Ailes was settled for a reported $20 million.
“I read Geraldo’s FB post in which he said he regretted not believing Gretchen Carlson’s claim of sexual harassment,” Van Susteren began.
“We all regret it – I made my regret self evident in my GretaWire posting about 3 weeks ago which ended with this: ‘Gretchen, you go girl.’ That said it all.”
“It is indeed true, when I read the complaint written by lawyers – I never spoke to Gretchen as she was long gone from Fox – I found it inconsistent with what was my experience and information at the Fox News Channel, admittedly working 200 miles from the “scene of the crimes.” It was hidden from all of us.”
Last month, Van Susteren took to her blog to remind people, “I did not defend Roger Ailes nor did I condemn him. I just stated what I knew or did not know.”
She did, however, tell People magazine, not long after Carlson filed her lawsuit, “we have a disgruntled employee, a colleague.”
Today, on Facebook, Van Susteren took a poke at Fox News’ parent company, for putting her, and any other regret-ers who might come forward next, in this position:
“But I have regrets beyond Geraldo’s and beyond not believing a civil complaint written by lawyers,” she wrote.
“I regret that Roger Ailes was not supervised by those in a public corporation who had the duty to supervise him. This included his seniors, the CFO’s of both Fox News Channel and 21CF (and its predecessor NewsCorp), the Board of Directors and what I assume this public corporation had, outside auditors. Checks written that were suspicious should have been spotted.”
Rivera’s regret came, he said, after a recent book deal fell through because of his defense of Ailes. “I was wrong, and am paying the price,” he said. Van Susteren, meanwhile, is interested in securing another TV news position, sources report.
