Gawker: Fox News demoted Shep Smith because he’s gay

http://americablog.com/2014/04/gawker-says-fox-news-discriminated-shep-smith-hes-gay.html

Gawker is reporting that Fox News discriminated against longtime anchor Shepard Smith because Smith is gay and decided last year to finally, officially, come out.

If true, Fox News’ actions could constitute a violation of both New York city and state (2002) employment law, which bans job discrimination based on sexual orientation.

It has long been rumored that Smith is gay – a gay Fox News employee told me that he knew for a fact that Smith was gay over ten years ago. But what Gawker is alleging is entirely new.

Gawker is claiming that Smith had intended to come out last year, was told “no” by Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, and that because of internal fears that Smith might come out anyway, and Fox News’ conservative audience would not approve of a gay host, Fox essentially demoted Smith, removing him from the network’s prime-time line-up.


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