The Carlson Camp
Inside the team of lawyers and P.R. agents strategizing former Fox anchor’s battle against Roger Ailes
Carlson had not given Fox a heads-up, or even announced publicly that she had been terminated from the network.
“Ailes and Fox have a very heavy hand in media relations. What’s important [is] no one had known up until the suit was filed that Gretchen had been fired,” Ripp Media founder Allan Ripp told POLITICO.
.. As someone who knows Smith’s firm well, Reis said she believes they wouldn’t have taken the case without assiduously vetting the claims.
.. Carlson and her lawyers knew that it wouldn’t be enough to fight the case in the courts; they also had to have a good P.R. strategy. That’s where Ripp Media comes in.
.. Most major national news outlets covered the suit. The most conspicuous outlier was the New York Post, which is owned by 21st Century Fox sister company News Corp. As of Saturday morning, the tabloid hadn’t published anything about the case in print or online. The Wall Street Journal, which is also owned by News Corp., reported the allegations on Thursday in a story on page B5, which was blurbed on the front page.
.. “There’s some allegations that have not even been included yet that may come out in discovery. … Not everything that could have been in the complaint was included in the complaint,” he said.
Carlson’s representatives have said that her aim is to air her complaints in a public jury trial, that settlement is not an option. Of course, that’s what complainants always say at this stage of the game.
Carlson would seem to be well situated to make good on her pledge to bring this matter to trial. Her husband, Casey Close, is one of the richest sports agents in professional baseball, with a client list that includes Derek Jeter and Clayton Kershaw.
.. “Gretchen believes she’s representing a long list of women who have faced similar issues and harassment,” Ripp said. “And she wants to take this to the very end. So she’s happy and fully prepared to go to trial. That could be a long time away.”