Is Roger Ailes Trying to Pull a Gawker on New York Magazine?

Ousted Fox News chief Roger Ailes has the same lawyer that took down Gawker going after New York magazine, according to a report.

A creative commons photo of Roger Ailes from Wikimedia Commons
WikiCommons

Image via WikiCommons

A creative commons photo of Roger Ailes from Wikimedia Commons

The media hasn't painted a flattering picture of ousted Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, who for years ran the network that allegedly did things like use really good looking people to help sell the Iraq war and hire a team of investigators to run negative campaigns against Ailes' enemies.

Ailes stepped down as the head of Fox News recently amid at least 20 separate allegations he'd sexually harassed his female subordinates. One journalist more than any other, New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman, has been breaking the news of Ailes many alleged misdeeds. 

Now it seems that Ailes might be using his resources to go after New York with an attorney who definitely knows something about taking down a large media company. The Financial Times reports that Ailes has hired attorney Charles Harder. You might not know the name, but you probably heard that Gawker no longer exists. Well, he's the lawyer who won the $140 million Hulk Hogan lawsuit that made that happen. 

Harder has reportedly contacted the magazine to complain about Sherman's articles about Ailes, articles that Ailes' other lawyer has previously said were "concocted" by using "deeply troubled" women as sources. Who knows if Ailes will use Harder to actually sue the magazine or Sherman, but given Harder's track record, the magazine has to be at least a little bit shook right now. 

After Gawker Media lost the suit that Hulk Hogan brought against it for posting a sex tape of the former pro wrestler, the company filed for bankruptcy. It was later auctioned off to Univision, which is going to continue to operate other Gawker Media sites such as Deadspin, but Gawker.com has been closed down.

Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker was, of course, secretly financed by the Silicon Valley tech billionaire Peter Theil, but Ailes likely has plenty of money to mount his own campaign against New York if he decides to.

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