Like macaroni goes hand in hand with cheese, so too does Fox News and sexual harassment claims these days.
First, there were the many, many accusations against Roger Ailes, and now there’s Bill O’Reilly. And so in an attempt to change their workplace culture (and undoubtedly save some money from complaint payouts) Fox News’ parent company, 21st Century Fox, is taking action and educating their staff about the do’s and don’ts of sexual harassment in the workplace.
And incredibly, when looking for educational material to share with staff, they didn’t have to look far.
Because who better to teach the cable network news team about what not to grab than Commander-in-Chief and Fox superfan, Donald Trump?
Using the reality television star's now infamous Access Hollywood tape as an example, 21st Century Fox is, according to The Hollywood Reporter, educating their staff through Trump.
For those who don't remember it, the 2005 recording includes audio of Trump bragging to Billy Bush about grabbing women "by the p***y" against their will, saying he "moved on" a woman "like a b**ch," and claiming, “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful – I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait."
“They went through the scenario of the tape, why it was harassment and why it’s something you should report," one anonymous source present at a recent sexual harassment seminar told The Hollywood Reporter.
"There was an audible gasp in the room, like, ‘Can you believe this is happening?’ Trump was defended on Fox News after that tape came out.... Someone joked about getting fired for harassment and wondering if the defense could be, ‘We were only told a behavior was bad once in a seminar,’ but Fox News said it was ‘just locker room talk’ over and over again,” the source continued.
Listen: Mamamia Out Loud discuss life in a Trump world. Post continues...
Another attendee confirmed the presence of the tape, and the sheer hypocrisy of Fox holding up something that they had previously defended at length as an example of what not to do.
“It was a joke,” the attendee said, adding, “it did not play well in the room.”
Listen to the full episode of Mamamia Out Loud below.
Do you think Trump's Access Hollywood tape makes for a good educational tool?