In celebration of Equal Pay Day, the women of "The View" decided to focus on the recent scandal of sexual assault allegations directed at Fox News. Co-host Jedediah Bila was a former contributor at the conservative network and let the cat out of the bag when it came to how they handled female talent.
"The View" on Fox News
It's no secret that Fox News has had their fair share of negative publicity over the years despite remaining the number rated cable news station in the United States.
Regardless of their success, the network has also found themselves on the back page, as former CEO and founder Roger Ailes was hit with various lawsuits accusing him of sexual harassment. Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that Bill O'Reilly had spent $13 million paying off five different women in settlements who claim the Fox News host had sexually assaulted them. O'Reilly has been quiet on the issue, with only his legal team pushing back to deny the allegations. As seen on the April 4 edition of "The View," the network allegedly has even more issues behind the scenes, as reported by Raw Story.
(Bila's comments start at 6:30 in the above video.)
The panel started their segment by running through statistics that show women in the workforce being paid less than men for doing the same work. There were slight disagreements, but the hosts all seemed in calm agreement with what was presented. At this point, co-host Joy Behar shifted the narrative and brought up the aforementioned news involving Bill O'Reilly.
"I certainly think it changes the equation for Fox News in large part," co-host Sonny Hostin said, predicting that the recent loss in advertisers, like Mercedes, will come back to harm the network. Hostin went on to accuse the network of creating a "culture of sexual harassment" that has led to a "de facto hostile work environment" unless the likes of Bill O'Reilly are removed.
At this point, Jedediah Bila spoke about her experiences working for Fox News.
Bila on Fox
"You used to go into a room and there was a bunch of dresses that you can choose from,” Jedediah Bila noted, before explaining that she couldn't wear orange "because Roger (Ailes) didn’t like orange." Bila then explained that she wasn't even allowed to wear pants suits because the female talent were told that they could only wear skits. "I wasn't given a pants option," she explained, before noting, "I had to choose skirts." As of press time, Fox News has not issued a comment on the allegations made on "The View."