Report: Roger Ailes and Fox negotiating his departure after sexual harassment allegations

Roger Ailes and 21st Century Fox are in the advanced stages of discussions that would lead to the departure of Ailes as chairman of Fox News Channel, a person briefed on the discussions said Tuesday.

The development follows by less than two weeks a sexual harassment suit filed against Ailes by a former anchor, Gretchen Carlson. The suit prompted 21st Century Fox, Fox News' corporate parent, to conduct an internal review.

Since then, Ailes' future at Fox News has been the subject of intense speculation, which increased on Monday with a report from New York magazine that the executives leading 21st Century Fox — Rupert Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan — had determined that Ailes must go. But the two sides appeared to be continuing negotiations Tuesday on terms that may include Ailes' staying on in a consulting role for Fox News.

"Roger is at work," 21st Century Fox said in a statement. "The review is ongoing. And the only agreement that is in place is his existing employment agreement."

Ailes' exit would be a humbling and startlingly swift fall from power for a man who started Fox News from scratch 20 years ago and built it into a top-rated cable news program and a critical profit center for 21st Century Fox. Along the way, Ailes, a former Republican operative, established Fox News as the leading media platform for conservative politics. He also minted prime-time stars like Bill O'Reilly, Megyn Kelly and Greta Van Susteren.

The events leading to his ouster began on July 6, when Carlson, who had been an anchor in Fox News' afternoon lineup, filed a lawsuit saying she had been fired from her weekday afternoon show on Fox News after rebuffing sexual advances from Ailes, 76. Carlson accused Ailes of ogling her in his office and calling her "sexy." She also said she had been sexually harassed by her former "Fox and Friends" co-host, Steve Doocy.

When asked about the culture at Fox News in an interview with The New York Times last week, Carlson, 50, said: "Everyone knew how powerful Roger Ailes was. I certainly felt intimidated by that."

She said that during a meeting last fall to discuss her concerns that she was being treated unfairly, Ailes told her, "I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago, and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better."

Her description of sexual harassment and retaliation was followed by accounts of other women who said Ailes acted inappropriately in professional settings from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s. But more than a dozen Fox anchors and on-air personalities have spoken in support of Ailes. Several questioned Carlson's motives and wondered why she had waited until she was dismissed to file a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Ailes was unequivocal in his response on the day Carlson's lawsuit was filed.

"Gretchen Carlson's allegations are false," he wrote in a statement. "This is a retaliatory suit for the network's decision not to renew her contract," which he attributed to ratings he called "disappointingly low."

He added, "This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive, it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously."

Fox News' parent company issued a more measured statement on the day the lawsuit was filed, saying it had "full confidence" in Ailes but had initiated an internal review of the accusations. "We take these matters seriously," the company said.

It subsequently hired the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to conduct an internal investigation. Lauren S. Nussbaum, a spokeswoman for the firm, declined to comment.

Fox News has been the No. 1-rated cable news station for 15 years, and it has never done better than this year: Through June, it is having its highest-rated year. In October, Fox News will celebrate its 20th anniversary, a milestone executives have been proudly discussing for months.

But even as Fox News has long been controversial, and an occasional source of embarrassment to other parts of 21st Century Fox, it has been ruthlessly good for business. Fox News represents about 20 percent of all earnings at 21st Century Fox, generating more than $1 billion.