On Thursday, Gabe Sherman of New York Magazine wrote a piece essentially stating that the Fox News management had refused a public statement of support for Bill Shine, the network’s co-president. Shine, of course, was first appointed by Roger Ailes as head of programming; the network has been roiled by the exit of Megyn Kelly, the ouster of Bill O’Reilly over sexual harassment allegations, and most recently, the “vacation” of new The Five co-host Jesse Watters over his apparent on-air oral sex joke about Ivanka Trump.
According to Sherman, “Shine is expressing concern about his future at the network.” Shine reportedly asked for assurances from James and Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO and co-chairman of 21st Century Fox – and received none. Sherman says they refused to release a public statement in his support, and that Shine has been complaining about the lack of such support in the wake of brutal media coverage.
Shine, who began as a producer for Sean Hannity, is the last major Ailes holdover at the network, and the unquestioned programming power there. Sherman reports:
In that role, sources say he had the power to stop multiple instances of sexual harassment, including that of former Fox booker Laurie Luhn, but did not do so. (Through a Fox News spokesperson, Shine denies this.) He’s currently a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed this week by former Fox host Andrea Tantaros… There’s also the question that Shine may simply know too much about Fox News’ inner workings at a time when federal prosecutors are investigating the network.
Lending credibility to these rumors was Hannity himself, who tweeted today:
Gäbe i pray this is NOT true because if it is, that’s the total end of the FNC as we know it. Done. Best Sean https://t.co/W3BJ2wjzRD
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 27, 2017
Fox News allies including Breitbart News have always been particularly critical of Sherman, so Hannity’s suddenly genial treatment of Sherman speaks to the likely reality behind Sherman’s reporting. Hannity followed that tweet with another:
Somebody HIGH UP AND INSIDE FNC is trying to get an innocent person fired. And Gabe I KNOW WHO it is. Best Sean https://t.co/W3BJ2wjzRD
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 27, 2017
If Shine goes, the changes at Fox News could be enormous.
Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Hannity’s still tweeting:
#Istandwithbill https://t.co/W3BJ2wjzRD
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 27, 2017