When Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle announced her departure from the network last week, it was framed as a voluntary decision: she was joining a pro-Trump super PAC, and helping her boyfriend, Donald Trump Jr., campaign for his father’s reelection. Sources speaking to Huffington Post, however, allege that Guilfoyle was quietly pushed out after an investigation into accusations regarding sexual misconduct and bullying of subordinate staff.
Six sources told reporter Yashar Ali that Guilfoyle’s misconduct allegedly entailed “showing personal photographs of male genitalia to colleagues (and identifying whose genitals they were), regularly discussing sexual matters at work and engaging in emotionally abusive behavior toward hair and makeup artists and support staff.”
The investigation into Guilfoyle’s behavior reportedly began last year and included a warning from Kevin Lord, the head of the network’s human resources department, last fall.
According to the sources, Fox News prefers to have problematic employees appear to voluntarily resign or retire, rather than court scrutiny by firing them Guilfoyle was reportedly afforded the time to find another job so that she could announce that she was leaving the network for a new opportunity.
Guilfoyle’s attorney, John Singer, responded to the allegations by issuing the following statement to Huffington Post:
“Any accusations of Kimberly engaging in inappropriate work-place conduct are unequivocally baseless and have been viciously made by disgruntled and self-interested employees. During her lengthy and decorated tenure with the company, Kimberly was beloved, well-respected, and supportive of anyone she ever met. It’s utterly preposterous that there are those who are nefariously and greedily twisting innocent conversations amongst close friends into much more than what it actually was for financial gain. Kimberly has happily moved onto the next chapter of her life and hopes others will do the same.”
Guilfoyle is the latest in the long line of Roger Ailes-era Fox News employees who were accused of sexual misconduct—or, in the case of ousted Fox News president turned White House deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine, enabling and covering up an alleged culture of sexual harassment. The only question we have now is: whose dick was it?
Update: On Friday, July 27, Spin received a letter from Guilfoyle’s lawyer denying all allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct. It reads, in part:
Let us be perfectly clear: As we informed the Huffington Post and Mr. Ali before they published their defamatory article, any assertions that Ms. Guilfoyle engaged in any inappropriate work-place conduct are unequivocally baseless, demonstrably false, and defamatory.
