Ex-Fox News Chief Roger Ailes Dead At 77

>> AND GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. WE COME TO YOU ON THIS THURSDAY
MORNING WITH BREAKING NEWS. WE HAVE JUST RECEIVED WORD THAT
ROGER AILES, THE LONG-TIME CEO OF FOX NEWS, HAS PASSED AWAY AT
THE AGE OF 77. >> AND WE JUST READ A STATEMENT
FROM HIS WIFE, IT DOES NOT GIVE A REASON FOR HIS PASSING, 77
YEARS OLD, SOMEBODY WHO WAS THE FOUNDING CEO OF FOX NEWS.
EARLIER IN HIS CAREER, WORKED IN TELEVISION, WAS IN THE NIXON
WHITE HOUSE, WORKED ON THE RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN FOR RONALD
REAGAN AMONG OTHER POLITICAL FIGURES.
SO A LEGENDARY FIGURE IN MEDIA AND POLITICS.
AND MORE RECENTLY EMBROILED IN THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT
CONTROVERSY. >> IN THE EARLY PART OF HIS
CAREER, HE WAS CREDITED AS THE GUY WHO REVOLUTIONIZED THE WAY
NEWS WAS COVERED ON CABLE TELEVISION, BUT IN THE LAST YEAR
OR SO OF HIS CAREER, PROBABLY A NAME MOST PEOPLE READ IN THE
HEADLINES ASSOCIATED WITH THAT SEXUAL HARASSMENT SCANDAL THAT
TOOK PLACE WITHIN FOX NEWS THAT EVENTUALLY LED TO HIS OUSTER.
>> STEPHANIE GOSK IS JOINING US NOW AND HAS BEEN COVERING
EXTENSIVELY, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS NEWS THIS MORNING?
HAVE THERE BEEN RUMBLINGS PERHAPS HE WAS IN AILING HEALTH
HAVING GONE THROUGH PERSONAL TIMES RECENTLY?
>> NO, WE HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT HIS HEALTH.
IF YOU LOOK AT HIM, HE'S 77 YEARS OLD, HE LOOKED TO BE
SOMEWHAT OVERWEIGHT, YOU CAN IMAGINE SOME HEALTH PROBLEMS
POTENTIALLY FOR SOMEONE AT THAT AGE, BUT OBVIOUSLY WHEN YOU TALK
ABOUT ROGER AILES, TWO REALLY BIG THINGS.
AILES REVOLUTIONIZED AS MATT SAID FOX NEWS AND CABLE NEWS,
BUT HE REALLY CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE OF NEWS IN THIS
COUNTRY. OFFERING UP A CONSERVATIVE
OPTION FOR MANY PEOPLE WHO FELT THERE WAS NOT ONE OUT THERE.
AND THEN MOST RECENTLY, AS WE HAVE BEEN COVERING EXTENSIVELY,
THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM GAINING
SO MUCH MOMENTUM THAT ACTUALLY IT LED TO HIM BEING FIRED FROM
HIS POSITION. >> HE HAD A LONG-TIME FRIENDSHIP
WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DONALD TRUMP.
SO WE'LL KEEP AN EYE ON HIS TWITTER TO SEE IF WORD HAS
REACHED THE WHITE HOUSE. >> I WANT TO BRING IN JOURNALIST
GABE SHERMAN WHO WORKS FOR US AND HAS COVERED FOX NEWS AND
ROGER AILES EXTENSIVELY. HE JOINS US ON THE PHONE, GABE,
GOOD MORNING TO YOU. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
>> ARE YOU LEARNING ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE CIRCUMSTANCES
UNDER WHICH ROGER AILES PASSED AWAY?
>> THE IMMEDIATE CIRCUMSTANCES THIS MORNING ARE STILL IN
QUESTION, MATT, BUT THE LARGER CONTEXT, YOU TALK ABOUT THE
HEALTH PROBLEMS. IT IS IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT
ROGER AILES STRUGGLED WITH HEALTH PROBLEMS FOR HIS WHOLE
LIFE. HE WAS A HEMOPHILIAC, HE'S HAD
MANY JOINT REPLACEMENTS, HE HAD A SECRET PROSTATE SURGERY
SEVERAL YEARS AGO THAT TOOK HIM OUT OF FOX NEWS FOR WEEKS ON
END. HE'S BEEN IN SERIOUS HEALTH
DECLINE FOR YEARS NOW. SO THE LARGER CONTEXT IN HIS
PASSING AT 77, WHILE EARLY, IS NOT SURPRISING TO PEOPLE WHO
HAVE COVERED HIM BECAUSE OF HIS AIL HEALTH FOR YEARS.
>> TRY TO PUT IN PERSPECTIVE FOR US, IF YOU CAN, ROGER AILES AND
HIS EARLY CAREER AT FOX. AND THEN ROGER AILES AND HIS
DEPARTURE FROM FOX. >> WELL, YOU KNOW, IT'S A
COMPLICATED STORY, MATT. I WROTE A BIOGRAPHY ON AILES, HE
CHANGED MEDIA AND POLITICS FOREVER.
HE BUILT FOX NEWS FROM NOTHING INTO RUPERT MURDOCH'S MOST
VALUABLE ASSET IN YEARS. BUT HE RULED FOX NEWS WITH AN
IRON FIST. WOMEN WHO WORKED AT FOX NEWS AS
WE HAVE LEARNED THROUGH LAWSUITS WERE SUBJECT TO A HOSTILE WORK
ENVIRONMENT AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT.
AND AILES COULD BE A DOMINEERING AND TERRORIZING FIGURE WITHIN
THE COMPANY. AND SO IT'S A VERY, IT'S A VERY
COMPLICATED STORY. HE'S, IN ONE HAND, A GENIUS, BUT
ALSO A VERY TRAGIC AND MANY SOME WAYS, HIS QUEST FOR POWER
CONSUMED HIM. AND IT'S SAD, IN A CERTAIN WAY,
FOR A WRITER TO COVER HIM, HE DIED ALONE.
HE MOVED TO PALM BEACH, WAS SORT OF IN EXILE AFTER HIS SEXUAL
HARASSMENT AND BASICALLY ENDS THE FINAL CHAPTER OF HIS LIFE
TOTALLY ALONE. >> GABE, IT'S IMPORTANT TO
REMEMBER HE DENIED THE CHARGES OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT UNTIL THE
END. >> THAT IS CORRECT.
HE'S REPEATEDLY DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS ALL THROUGHOUT THE
WAKE OF THE GRETCHEN CARLSON LAWSUIT AND OTHER WOMEN WHO HAVE
COME FORWARD. >> I SHOULD MENTION, GABE, WE
RECEIVED A STATEMENT FROM THE FAMILY.
THIS IS FROM ELIZABETH AILES, SHE WRITES, I AM PROFOUNDLY SAD
AND HEART BROKEN TO REPORT THAT MY HUSBAND, ROGER AILES, PASSED
AWAY THIS MORNING. RESPONSIBLE EARN WAS A LOVING
HUSBAND TO ME, TO HIS SON ZACHARY, AND A LOYAL FRIEND TO
MANY. HE WAS A PATRIOT.
HE WORKED HARD TO RISE AND TO GIVE BACK.
SHE GOES ON, DURING A CAREER THAT STRETCHED OUT OVER MORNING
FIVE DECADES, HIS WORK IN ENTERTAINMENT AND POLITICS AND
IN NEWS AFFECTED THE LIVES OF MANY MILLIONS AND SO EVEN AS WE
MOURN HIS DEATH, WE CELEBRATE HIS LIFE.
THAT IS THE STATEMENT FROM ELIZABETH AILES JUST THIS
MORNING ON OUR BREAKING NEWS THAT ROGER AILES, LONG-TIME
CHAIRMAN OF FOX

Ex-Fox News Chief Roger Ailes Dead At 77 | NBC News

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