Multiple women reportedly made audio recordings of their conversations with former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, which could lead to an eight-figure settlement on Gretchen Carlson's sexual harassment lawsuit, Vanity Fair reports.
"If they litigate the case, all the tapes will become public, directly and through others," Vanity Fair quoted one person familiar with the tapes. "Then you will have a parade of women come in. Nobody wants that."
The 76-year-old Ailes has denied all allegations, but resigned July 21 from the news network he founded 20 years ago just two weeks after Carlson filed her lawsuit. The former anchor says she was subjected to sexual harassment by Ailes and was demoted, then let go in late June after rebuffing him.
Since then, two dozen other women have come forward to say Ailes harassed them as well. Laurie Luhn, a former booker at the network, said she was left "psychologically tortured" after nearly two decades of sexual activity with Ailes, which she says included trips to hotel rooms where she performed oral sex on him and was photographed by Ailes while she engaged in sadomasochistic acts with other women.
Most recently, Fox News host Andrea Tantaros has said through a lawyer that she was moved to a less-watched daytime show from her job at "The Five," then taken off the air altogether after dismissing Ailes' advances and reporting him to management.
On Monday, Ailes dropped his attempt to move Carlson's lawsuit from New Jersey to a New York federal court.