Whatever Happened To Fox News' Gretchen Carlson?

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Gretchen Carlson's path to TV journalism began with a violin. Since her childhood, music had been her passion; a talented violinist who'd been training since the age of six, Carlson was just 13 when she performed with the Minnesota Orchestra. Competing in musical competitions led to other avenues, and while attending high school she displayed her musical abilities — and her natural beauty — at the Miss T.E.E.N. Minnesota pageant. That led to more pageants, and in 1988 Carlson was named Miss Cottage Grove, and then Miss Minnesota. The following year, she represented her home state in the Miss America pageant — and won. After being crowned 1989's Miss America, she went on to graduate from Stanford. 

Her musical ambitions fell by the wayside, and she instead pursued opportunities as a local news reporter, then anchor, in smaller markets including Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. Having paid her dues, Carlson was hired by CBS in 2000, initially serving as a correspondent before being appointed co-anchor of CBS' Saturday edition of its flagship morning show, "The Early Show." Just a few years later, in 2005 she was hired by right-leaning cable channel Fox News, and was soon co-anchoring the early-morning "Fox & Friends." In 2013, she shifted to primetime with her own namesake show, "The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson."

That upward trajectory came to a screeching halt in June 2016, when she was abruptly fired. What she did next changed the culture, shone light upon darkness and launched a movement that continues to reverberate to this day. To find out more, keep reading to explore whatever happened to Fox News' Gretchen Carlson.

Gretchen Carlson's contract with Fox News was officially terminated on June 23, 2016. Her response came less than two weeks later, when she filed a scorched-earth lawsuit against her former employer. Carlson's legal missile was aimed at Fox News' chairman, Roger Ailes, alleging her firing came after she complained to him about the "boy's club" atmosphere and consistent sexual harassment and discrimination she'd experienced in the workplace. Her suit went on to state that was particularly true of her former "Fox & Friend" co-host Steve Doocy. Revealing how some Fox News anchors feel about each other in real life, she claimed Doocy treated her in a "sexist and condescending" manner.

In Carlson's complaint, she claimed that when she confronted Ailes, he suggested an unorthodox solution. "I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better," he allegedly told her, adding that "sometimes problems are easier to solve" in the bedroom. She rebuffed his advances, she claimed, and was let go soon afterward.

Ailes balked, and he issued a statement to the New York Times characterizing her claims as lies, insisting she was retaliating at him over his decision to axe her due to her "disappointingly low "ratings. "This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive," Ailes sniped, "it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously."

When Gretchen Carlson filed suit against Fox News, there was no way she could have known that she would be responsible for a cultural tidal wave that continues to reverberate. While Ailes held fast in his denial, other women came forward to lodge similar allegations against him. Ultimately, more than 20 different women shared stories of Ailes' alleged sexual harassment, over a period spanning several decades. In fact, the earliest accusation took place in the 1970s, when Ailes was producer of "The Mike Douglas Show." Six of those women (four of whom requested not to be identified) spoke with reporter Gabriel Sherman for New York magazine, accusing Ailes of far worse than what Carlson had in her complaint.

The following year, Ronan Farrow's blockbuster exposé in The New Yorker, featuring similar allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, led to what came to be known as the #MeToo movement, which could be traced directly back to Carlson. 

In a 2019 interview with Salon, Carlson admitted she never envisioned herself blazing a trail in preparation of #MeToo. "It seems hard to believe even now because every day for me is still surreal, because I had no way of knowing how this was all going to turn out," she said. "If you fast forward to present day it's like we're in this cultural revolution ..."

As more women emerged to share their own horror stories about Roger Ailes, it became increasingly difficult for Fox News to defend the indefensible. On July 22 — less than a month after he'd fired Gretchen Carlson, and less than a month after she filed her lawsuit — he was forced out, among Fox News' most explosive scandals that completely rocked the network. While resigning in disgrace was certainly not his preferred outcome, the sting was blunted by his exit package, a golden parachute reported to be a whopping $40 million. 

In his resignation letter, Ailes refused to admit guilt, instead boasting about his accomplishments at the cable news network. "I take particular pride in the role that I have played advancing the careers of the many women I have promoted to executive and on-air positions," Ailes wrote in a letter supplied to Reuters. "I will not allow my presence to become a distraction from the work that must be done every day to ensure that Fox News and Fox Business continue to lead our industry."

After joining the dubious list of Fox News personalities who were fired for their inappropriate behavior, Ailes did not have much time to settle into a life of retirement. In May 2017, just 10 months after his resignation, he was dead, reportedly falling in his home and slipping into a coma from which he never awoke. 

In light of Roger Ailes' departure and all those accusers bolstering Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit, the network's lawyers clearly recognized they were engaged in a legal battle they could not win. Rather than fighter Carlson's case, Fox News chose to settle.

In early September of 2016 — less than two months after she'd filed — Carlson received a $20-million settlement. According to experts in employment law (via the New York Times), Carlson's settlement was one of the biggest on record for a single person suing over claims of sexual harassment. Money, however, was not all that Carlson received from Fox News — she also got an apology. "We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve," the network said in a statement, as reported by NBC News. 

Carlson also issued a statement about the settlement. "I am gratified that 21st Century Fox took decisive action after I filed my complaint," Carlson said. "I'm ready to move on to the next chapter of my life in which I will redouble my efforts to empower women in the workplace ... All women deserve a dignified and respectful workplace in which talent, hard work and loyalty are recognized, revered and rewarded."

When Gretchen Carlson said she planned to "redouble" her efforts to ensure that women in the workplace wouldn't have to go through what she did, she wasn't just paying lip service. Rather than focus on extravagant ways to spend her $20-million windfall, she focused her efforts on writing a book about how sexual harassment in the workplace could be quashed. 

The title of that book, "Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back," pretty much said it all, setting the agenda for what was described as a "manifesto" sharing what she'd learned about combatting sexual harassment. While writing the book, she came to realize that her experience at Fox News was far from an isolated incident. "All these women had reached out to me after my story broke and I was like, 'This is an epidemic.' It was from [e]very profession, every socioeconomic class, every race," she told TV Insider.

She was happy to be viewed as a role model for others, and example of the positive outcomes that can result from simply speaking up and telling the truth. "Women said to themselves, 'Maybe I can come forward too and have similar results. 'Maybe I will be believed,'" she told The Politic.

Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit sent shockwaves throughout Fox News, and Roger Ailes wasn't the only high-profile figure to be ousted. Ailes was followed out the door by Bill O'Reilly, notorious for letting his temper get the better of him. O'Reilly was fired after revelations that he'd shelled out $32 million to silence accusations of sexual harassment. While Carlson had nothing to do with his exit, her actions opened the door to expose some Fox News' anchors messiest real-life scandals we can't forget. In fact, it was later revealed that Ailes' harassment was the real reason why Alisyn Camerota left Fox News for CNN.

Carlson once reported the news, but now she was making it. That was recognized by Time magazine, which named her one its most influential people of 2017. Carlson was honored by fellow journalist Katie Couric, whose own life was replete with tragic details. "Speaking truth to power is never easy," Couric wrote of Carlson, praising her for "blowing the lid off a corporate culture that seemed to perpetuate sexual harassment — from the executive suite to the anchor desk."

Gretchen Carlson taking on Fox News was a David-and-Goliath story that Hollywood could not ignore. The first project to emerge was "Bombshell," a 2019 feature film taking viewers behind the scenes for a fictionalized account what took place between Carlson and Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. Carlson was played by Nicole Kidman, with Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly and Margot Robbie as a fictional character, a composite of actual women who'd worked at Fox News during that time. That same year, the Showcase cable network debuted "The Loudest Voice," a seven-part miniseries focusing on the rise and fall of Ailes (played by Russell Crowe), featuring Naomi Watts portraying Carlson. 

"It's amazing and surreal, and I never thought it would happen," she said when interviewed for Katie Couric Media. "They're both amazing actresses. I have great respect for both of them. I know that they have both put in a tremendous amount of research to play my character — because I can't tell them anything about it."

The reason she wasn't able to share her own personal account was tied to the $20-million settlement she received from Fox News. One condition of the settlement was that she sign a nondisclosure agreement, prohibiting her from saying anything about her former employer and the sexual harassment she'd experienced while working there. "It's like you're handcuffed and muzzled," she said of being bound by an NDA.

Forced to sign an NDA, Gretchen Carlson quickly came to realize that was the rule, not the exception, for women who receive settlements in case of workplace sexual harassment. As Carlson told Katie Couric Media, NDAs had an undeniably nefarious purpose in these cases, barring accusers from saying anything beyond what they'd already said, while their former employers could keep spinning the story in beneficial ways to the company. "Because people can continue to go out and say things about you and you can't respond," Carlson explained. "They can deny claims, they can make up things about you."

The more she spoke with other women, the more she realized how NDAs only served to further the victimization of women who had already suffered more than enough. She felt a calling, and quickly embraced her new role as advocate and activist. "As I started hearing from women, I felt a duty to try and make something of it," she told Vanity Fair. "For so long women have been silenced on this issue. I felt if I didn't do it, who was going to?" 

In January 2018, former pageant contestant Gretchen Carlson experienced a full-circle moment when she was named chair of the Miss America pageant. Carlson put her stamp on the venerable beauty competition by announcing some sweeping changes with what was called Miss America 2.0. "We are no longer a pageant. We are a competition," Carlson said while appearing on "Good Morning America." "We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance ... And that means we will no longer have a swimsuit competition."

That change did not go over well with officials at the state competitions, and there was serious pushback — including a petition from the representatives of 22 state pageants calling for Carlson and the rest of the board to resign. Carlson, however, held fast. "Change is difficult," she during a subsequent appearance on "GMA," reported by ABC News.

Ultimately, Carlson's tenure with Miss America proved to be as brief was it was bitter. Later that year, reigning Miss America Cara Mund wrote a letter claiming (via the New York Times) that Carlson and the rest of the board had "reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on a daily basis," conflating her experience to "workplace bullying." Mund received the support of 11 former Miss Americas, who called for Carlson's resignation. The following year, she did — albeit without referencing the efforts calling for her ouster.

Not only did Gretchen Carlson become a vocal opponent of NDAs for sexual harassment accusers, she took her role one step further by forming an organization devoted to that cause. In 2019, she and fellow former Fox News personality Julie Roginsky co-founded Lift Our Voices, a nonprofit advocating for legislation to eradicate NDAs for victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. "Had I known what I know now, I would have fought really hard to not sign my NDA at Fox," she told HuffPost. 

However, she was savvy enough to recognize that particular situation was not going to self-correct — not unless Fox News and other companies engaging in that practice were forced to do so. "I don't hold out a lot of hope that they're going to do that on their own," she added. 

She made her point crystal clear in a 2019 op-ed she wrote for the New York Times. "At the time, I just wanted to bring closure to an ugly chapter in my life," she wrote, explaining why she'd agreed to sign the NDA. As she pointed out, when victims are forced into silence, that only emboldens their abusers to continue their actions unabated. NDAs, she wrote, "foster a culture that gives predators cover to commit the same crimes again."

Gretchen Carlson took her opposition to NDAs to the next level when she traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2019, visiting Capitol Hill to make her case before a House Judiciary subcommittee. In her fiery remarks, Carlson asked lawmakers to put themselves in the shoes of a woman who'd endured sexual harassment in her workplace, spoke up about it, and then received a settlement — in addition to losing her job, and being legally bound to never discuss the harassment she'd experienced. "No one else at her place of employment will know what happened to her and, worst of all, the perpetrator gets to stay on the job because nobody knows about it, the whole process is secret," Carlson explained (via The Hill), underlining the obvious inequity. "And that person is free to harass again and again. And I ask you today, what is fair about that?"

In addition to NDAs, Carlson also opposed arbitration agreements in employment contracts, which prohibit victims of sexual harassment from taking their case to court, instead forcing them to settle the matter privately with their employer via the arbitration process. Carlson became a vocal advocate of a bill, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which was passed by Congress in February 2022 — largely due to her advocacy efforts. 

The following month, President Joe Biden signed that bill into law. "On March 3rd, I was with President Biden and Vice President Harris at a public signing ceremony and it was one of the greatest days of my life — not for Gretchen Carlson, but for the millions of workers that I have helped through this legislation," Carlson told Katie Couric Media.

As the years passed, Gretchen Carlson has continued to fight for the rights of women. In 2025, she threw her support behind the many victims of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019. "The survivors are the heroes in this [Epstein] case because there would be no case without them and their courage and bravery in speaking up," Carlson told The Guardian. "We aim to continue lifting [survivors] up and letting them know that we are here to support them," Carlson said.

According to Carlson, the fact that the veracity of Epstein's victims is not being questioned marks a major shift forward in a culture in which women who publicly share their allegations of sexual abuse are either disbelieved or denigrated. "The American public is smarter than we think, because they are not demanding to hear from the survivors; they believe them," Carlson told Forbes. "Instead they want accountability for these male predators and female predators."