One of the biggest lingering scandals associated with President Trump has to do with his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Over the last few years, Daniels has claimed that she had a sexual relationship with him–and that she got paid off to keep quiet about it. Trump has repeatedly threatened to sue Daniels for going public.
But it seems others knew about the affair, too, and long before this all came to light. In fact, Fox News was set to publish a story about it in 2016. Instead, the article got killed–and Rupert Murdoch himself was allegedly the reason why. This is according to investigative journalist Jane Mayer’s new bombshell story in the New Yorker, which details President Trump’s longtime and often shady relationship with Fox News and its owner Rupert Murdoch.
Mayer writes that, right before the election, FoxNews.com reporter Diana Falzone was able to find proof that Trump had a sexual relationship with Daniels:
Falzone had worked on the story since March, and by October she had confirmed it with Daniels through her manager at the time, Gina Rodriguez, and with Daniels’s former husband, Mike Moz, who described multiple calls from Trump. Falzone had also amassed e-mails between Daniels’s attorney and Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, detailing a proposed cash settlement, accompanied by a nondisclosure agreement. Falzone had even seen the contract.
But when it came time to publish, Fox allegedly refused to pull the trigger; CNN reported this last yer. At the time, Fox News digital editor-in-chief and VP Noah Kotch provided the following statement to CNN: “Like many other outlets, we were working to report the story of Stephanie Clifford’s account in October 2016 about then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump and a possible payment by Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. In doing our due diligence, we were unable to verify all of the facts and publish a story.”
Mayer, however, reports a different reason for why the story was shelved. Fox’s Ken LaCorte allegedly told Falzone: “Good reporting, kiddo. But Rupert wants Donald Trump to win. So just let it go.” (LaCorte denied saying this to the New Yorker, but others corroborated the claim to Mayer.)
The following year, Fox allegedly demoted Falzone–who then sued the company. Falzone did not comment to the New Yorker on the allegations against Fox. Falzone’s lawyer, however, admitted that she signed an NDA as part of a settlement with the company.
This is just one example of the alleged sway Trump holds with Fox News. The entire story is brimming with juicy and breathtaking tidbits like this. It depicts clearly how the once-conservative-leaning network became a full-on mouthpiece of the current presidential administration. Look no further than the way Fox allegedly handled the Stormy Daniels story to understand behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing.
You can read the full New Yorker article here.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
