Roger Ailes, the controversial founder and longtime head of Fox News — who also worked as an advisor to Republican presidential candidates from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump — died Thursday at 77, according to a statement released by his wife.
The former Fox News chairman was credited with making the channel a ratings powerhouse and a voice for conservative ideals in his 20 years at the helm. The infusion of conservative commentary into news coverage also changed the cable news business. Opinionated hosts from both sides of the political aisle now command devoted TV audiences.
The right-wing channel is divisive, though, and Ailes’ personal legacy is clouded by allegations of sexual harassment.
“No one did more to change the media landscape than Roger Ailes, but no media executive did more to divide America,” said Joe Peyronnin, a former network news executive who worked for Fox before Ailes was hired to launch the news channel.
“Ailes had a clear vision for a alternative news channel in 1996, and by rigorously managing its conservative content, he built the most powerful and profitable news brand in the world. Ailes was a brilliant TV executive who saw an opportunity two decades ago to build a conservative news source and seized it, and then with his singular and rigid focus he succeeded beyond even his wildest dreams.”
Ailes stepped down from his post in July 2016 following sexual harassment charges. His resignation came two weeks after embarrassing allegations that he had sexually harassed former anchor Gretchen Carlson. He dismissed the allegations, but faced additional claims of misconduct. He also was a subject of an ongoing federal investigation into whether 21st Century Fox violated any securities laws in its handling of payments to women to resolve sexual harassment claims.
He was reported to have received $40 million in an exit agreement with Fox.
A cause of death was not reported, but, according to the Palm Beach Police Department in Florida, a caller contacted 911 dispatchers May 10, saying Ailes had fallen in his bathroom, hit his head and was bleeding profusely. He was taken to a hospital by attending paramedics. Whether he was ever released from the hospital was not immediately clear.
“I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning,” Elizabeth Ailes said. “Roger was a loving husband to me, to his son Zachary, and a loyal friend to many. He was also a patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to rise — and to give back.”
Even before then, Ailes was known to be in poor health.
“The actuaries say I have six to eight years. The best tables give me 10. Three thousand days, more or less,” he told biographer Zev Chafets in 2012.
“Because of my hemophilia, I’ve been prepared to face death all of my life,” Chafets’ book “Roger Ailes Off Camera” quotes him as saying. “As a boy I spent a lot of time in hospitals. My parents had to leave at the end of visiting hours, and I spent a lot of time just lying there in the dark, thinking about the fact that any accident could be dangerous or even fatal. So I’m ready. Everybody fears the unknown. But I have a strong feeling there’s something bigger than us.”
Some former colleagues on Thursday praised Ailes’ contributions and place in history.
“Today America lost one of its great patriotic warriors. Roger Ailes. For Decades RA’s has impacted American politics and media,” tweeted Fox News host Sean Hannity. “He has dramatically and forever changed the political and the media landscape singlehandedly for the better. Neither will ever be the same again as he was a true American original.”
“Many people out there would say he saved this country by starting the Fox News Channel,” said Ainsley Earhardt, the co-host of “Fox & Friends.”
Hannity asked the media to leave Ailes’ family alone to allow them to grieve. “But knowing that people that hated him and his politics, and those that forget ’all have sinned and fallen short’ and ‘cast the first stone’ I doubt that will happen,” he tweeted.
At the time of Ailes’ resignation, Rupert Murdoch — executive chairman of 21st Century Fox and a longtime staunch Ailes supporter — had this to say:
“Roger Ailes has made a remarkable contribution to our company and our country. Roger shared my vision of a great and independent television organization and executed it brilliantly over 20 great years. Fox News has given voice to those who were ignored by the traditional networks and has been one of the great commercial success stories of modern media.”
In a statement read on the air Thursday, Murdoch said everyone at Fox News was “shocked and grieved” by Ailes’ death.
On social media, news of his death prompted many who had a different view of Ailes and his legacy to express their views. Instead of a hero, some saw Ailes as a promoter of bigotry and fear, who left behind a culture of sexual harassment at the network he built.
Born in Warren, Ohio, on May 15, 1940, Roger Eugene Ailes made his early reputation as a strategist and media advisor to Republican political candidates, beginning with Richard M. Nixon and including Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. His behind-the-scenes work to shape a more appealing television image for Nixon during his successful 1968 presidential campaign was chronicled in Joe McGinniss’ bestselling book, “The Sellling of the President.”
During his earlier days as a political consultant, Ailes was a sought-after debate coach, working with Reagan in 1984 and readying then-Vice President Bush for his presidential debates with Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts in 1988. After his resignation from Fox News last summer, Ailes helped Trump prepare for his televised debates with Hillary Clinton.
Roger Ailes, Fox News founder forced out by scandal, dies at 77 – Los Angeles Times