Former-Fox News chairman and co-founder Roger Ailes officially stepped down on Thursday, according to The New York Times.
Ailes, 76, was first accused of sexual harassment by former-"Fox & Friends" co-host Gretchen Carlson earlier this month, prompting several other female hosts — including Megyn Kelly — to come forward. Earlier this week, conservative news aggregator Matt Drudge broke details of Ailes' $60 million separation agreement with the network.
According to The Times, Australian-born media mogul and fellow co-founder Rupert Murdoch will take over as chairman.
For better or worse, Ailes has been credited with dragging Fox News to the right during his twenty-year tenure the network's CEO. MediaMatters, in a recent report, wrote, "Fox News under Ailes' leadership has embraced its role as the communications arm of the Republican Party."
"During the Obama administration," the report explained, "this partisanship accelerated as the network openly campaigned for Republican candidates, launched the tea party movement, became a farm system for Republican politicians, and served as the stage for Republican presidential primaries, among other egregious ethical issues."
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