With ‘Lift Our Voices,’ Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky aim to end NDAs

Between 2006 to 2016, Gretchen Carlson was a familiar face on Fox News, appearing on the morning show “Fox & Friends.” Then in 2013, she started hosting her own show called “The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson.”

In 2014, Carlson began secretly recording her meetings with FOX News CEO Roger Ailes. In 2016, she sued him, alleging that she had been fired for resisting his advances. Other women soon came forward. Ailes resigned weeks later, collecting $40 million on his way out the door.

Some of that drama was depicted in the Showtime series “The Loudest Voice,” in which Naomi Watts portrayed Carlson, and in Jay Roach’s movie “Bombshell,” where Nicole Kidman portrayed her.

In April 2017, Ailes was sued again, this time by Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky. She alleged Ailes told her she'd get a job as a co-host on the show “The Five” -- if she had a sexual relationship with him. Roginsky also sued then-Fox News president Bill Shine and the network itself. Like Carlson, she settled and signed a nondisclosure agreement (NDA).

That means neither Carlson nor Roginsky can talk about their allegations involving Fox or comment on the way they’re portrayed in dramatizations of their story.

Now Roginsky and Carlson have launched “Lift Our Voices,” an intiative to end mandatory NDAs and other confidentiality agreements that keep sexual harassment allegations hidden. Such agreements allowed Harvey Weinstein to silence his accusers for years. And when Senator Elizabeth Warren asked former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg about his company’s use of NDAs, she arguably terminated Bloomberg's presidential campaign.

Carlson and Roginsky tell us about turning their NDA-related anger into action, and how they’re working towards legislation on a federal level.

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This morning, @gretchencarlson and I were at the @hollywoodreporter breakfast to talk about @liftourvoices, our initiative to ban mandatory NDAs and end the silence surrounding toxic workplace behavior. Join us as we fight to give back everyone their right to speak about their own experiences. Text LIFT to 797979, visit www.LiftOurVoices.com to sign up and, if you are inclined, donate on the website to this worthy cause. Together, we will change the world.

A post shared by Julie Roginsky (@julieroginsky) on Dec 11, 2019 at 4:12pm PST