Andrea Goes for the Big Score

Andrea Tantaros wants to bring 'accountability' to Fox News with her $30M suit against Roger Ailes and network

Roger Ailes accuser Andrea Tantaros refuses to settle her $30 million lawsuit against the former Fox News chairman in the hopes it will bring more "accountability" to the conservative network.

We did kind of notice her disappear from "The Five" a few months ago, but didn't pay it that much attention.

“I think a culture change at Fox News is in order,” Tantaros said Tuesday on ABC News' Good Morning America as a reason why she won’t accept an offer of a roughly $1 million dollar settlement from the network.

Tantaros filed a bombshell lawsuit in August against Ailes and Fox News, charging her former employer operates like “a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult” under the former chairman's rule.

 Kind of sounds like the Clinton Library.

Fox News offered to pay her a $850,000 salary for the remainder of her contract through Aug. 1, 2017, in addition to what remains of her $800,000 salary for this year, according to an agreement provided by Tantaros' attorney, Judd Burstein. In return, the agreement would prohibit Tantaros from speaking publicly about Fox News or its current or former employees and would force her to drop her claims of sexual harassment and to admit she breached her contract when she published a book earlier this year.

That doesn't sound like a particularly good deal on her behalf; I'm sure MSNBC would be happy to double that for her to make up stories.

 Tantaros, who joined Fox's "The Five" in 2011, said Ailes began harassing her in August 2014 when he allegedly asked her to “twirl” during a private meeting in his office so she could show off her figure. He also interrogated her about her personal life and “made off-color jokes about getting married,” according to the suit.

She said Tuesday the unwanted advances continued. “Ailes sexually harassed me numerous times ... Walking to a taping once, I simply said hello to him and he said, ‘We need to get you a tighter dress.' ”

I'm not even sure that's possible. And it sounds like good advice.

Tantaros' former therapist backed up her claims, saying in a sworn affidavit last month that she told him on multiple occasions from 2014 and 2016 about Ailes' predatory behavior.

Tantaros, a former Daily News columnist, said when she complained about the harassment, “the retaliation was even worse,” and she was stripped of her airtime.

Not cool, if true. However, given HIPPA laws, I'm surprised it is even possible for a therapist to testify on her behalf.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and links. Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Tuesday: Birthday Edition" and "FMJRA 2.0: Function Creep" up at The Other McCain.