Rupert Murdoch’s dismissive comments last week regarding the hostile culture of sexual harassment at Fox News prompted one of the network’s victims to speak out over the weekend.
Former Fox News contributor Tamara Holder appeared on CNN’s Reliable Sources and sternly rebuked the Australian media mogul. “Fox News ruined people’s lives,” she told Brian Stelter on Sunday. “The place [Murdoch] has secured down like Fort Knox allowed abusive predators to prey on women who just wanted to work. That is not nonsense.”
Holder said this in response to an interview Murdoch gave last Thursday on Sky News, a network that he founded. Asked about the sexual harassment allegations against Fox News executives and on-air personalities, Murdoch told the interviewer Ian King, “It’s all nonsense.” Murdoch went on to characterize the accusations as “largely political”.
“Either Mr. Murdoch is a liar, or he’s delusional and old and needs to get out,” Holder continued.
In February of 2015, Holder reported that she was sexually assaulted by Fox News Latino Vice President Francisco Cortes. Holder alleged that Cortes attempted to force her to perform oral sex on him while they were alone in his office. Cortes was eventually fired after an internal investigation into the incident. In February of this year, 21st Century Fox reached a more than $2.5 million settlement with Holder.
Holder’s settlement with Fox News included a clause that prevented her from speaking about the incident unless she was “disparaged or maligned”, which she felt happened when Murdoch made these most recent comments to Sky News.
“I’m not the only case,” she said. “There are just women who can’t speak out.”