Gretchen Carlson, a longtime anchor for Fox News, announced on Tuesday, that she’d be suing top Fox executive Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. Carlson claims that she was fired at the end of her contract in June for refusing Ailes’ sexual advances, after being removed from the morning show Fox and Friends for complaining about her co-host Steve Doocy’s behavior.
Almost immediately after the news broke, the people of the internet starting flooding in with opinions about the situation, many pointing to Bloomberg’s compilation video highlighting the number of times she was objectified or had to deal with comments about her appearance on air.
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Some of the things hosts of Fox & Friends have said to Gretchen Carlson on the air https://t.co/DxRoJNKT4chttps://t.co/NuEtsBG4Eo
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) July 7, 2016
However, not everyone was quick to accept that there might be some validity to her case.
Some decided to crawl out of the grimy depths of the internet ocean and voice their opinions in the grossest way possible, thereby reaffirming that the very types of sexual harassment Carlson is suing over are alive and well on the internet:
Do u really get to claim sexual harassment if you stayed because you got another show? #Gretchen#RogerAileshttps://t.co/RU3pTg9Amo
— Media Liarz (@MediaLiarz) July 6, 2016
Ah yes, that’s how consent works. Gretchen didn’t want to lose her job, so she didn’t immediately report anything, automatically disqualifying her from ever having been harassed in the first place.
@SteveDoocy CBS news… did you really sexually harass Gretchen Carlson? Damn! Wish I could do that! She's the one I'd harass the most!
— Scott R. Saunders (@Scott9084) July 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/Pacino718/status/750831204237209600
You know what they say, “Why sexually harass one when you can harass them all!” No, wait, no one says that because that’s disgusting.
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Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit makes no sense. If Roger Ailes could sexually harass any blonde @FoxNews, why on Earth would it be her???
— NGM Gottfried (@NormGottfried) July 7, 2016
To be honest, if I am Roger Ailes, I definitely would harrass Megyn Kelly more than Gretchen Carlson…. https://t.co/IStSVLPYCQ
— Peter Wu (@Liverpotlian) July 7, 2016
It’s only harassment if you think she’s attractive. Gotcha.
https://twitter.com/TheEndTheBook/status/750760739405590528
You’re so right, Jerry, it’s absolutely absurd that a woman should think she could go to work and spend the day focused on work. It’s probably Gretchen’s fault for choosing a career over hiding in her closet to avoid ogling eyes.
Or maybe this is 2016 and not an episode of Mad Men.
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The fact of the matter is that most of us weren’t in the room to see whether or not these allegations are true; it’s none of our places to determine guilt. With that said, this — in absolutely no way — means anyone can champion sexual harassment toward women, or anyone for that matter, just because they don’t believe it happened. Harassment isn’t a joke; it’s a serious issue that many people face on a daily basis.
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