Roger Ailes’ widow kicks Fox News when it’s down: 'One empire falls'

17 May 2023

2023 has been a difficult year for Fox News, but that isn't stopping Roger Ailes' widow, Elizabeth Ailes, from kicking the disgraced right-wing cable news outlet when it's down.

Fox News took a major financial hit when, in April, it agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to settle a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit. Then, Fox News' ratings tumbled after it fired its biggest star, Tucker Carlson.

Fox News is still facing a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion competitor Smartmatic. Fox is also being sued for defamation by Nina Jankowicz, who formerly headed the now-dissolved Disinformation Governance Board (DGB) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). And Abby Grossberg, a former Fox News producer, is suing Fox for allegedly trying to bully her into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion lawsuit.

But Elizabeth Ailes, whose husband was long-time Fox News CEO/chairman Roger Ailes, obviously has no sympathy for the cable news channel.

Inundated with sexual harassment allegations, Roger Ailes was forced out of Fox News in 2016. He died on May 18, 2017 at the age of 77.

On May 15, 2023, which would have been Roger Ailes' 83rd birthday, his widow tweeted, "Happy Heavenly Birthday Roger Ailes. It took you 20 years to build Fox News into the powerhouse that it was and only 6 years for the Murdochs to wreak havoc. Rupert thought he could do your job. What a joke. He has the checkbook but could never come close to your genius. RIP."

After that, Elizabeth Ailes was interviewed by the Daily Beast and didn't hesitate to lambast Fox News, its leader Rupert Murdoch his sons James and Lachlan Murdoch.

Ailes told the Beast, "Roger never had his hand off the wheel when it came to Fox." And she said of Fox News' problems, "Karma is a bitch."

Roger Ailes' widow slammed Fox News for firing Carlson, telling the Beast that the Murdochs "figured out how to chop off his head" and adding, "That's what the Murdochs did to Roger, Bill O'Reilly, Eric Bolling, and they did it to Tucker."

"As one empire falls," Elizabeth Ailes told the Beast, "maybe another will rise."

Read The Daily Beast's full interview with Elizabeth Ailes at this link (subscription required).

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