Fact check: How much did Fox News pay in total settlements for harassment claims in 2017?

1. Why $50 million became the headline number — the company accounting story

Twenty-First Century Fox’s fiscal reporting for the year ending June 30, 2017, recorded $50 million in costs tied to settlements of sexual harassment and discrimination claims arising from its Fox News division; that is the figure most contemporary news accounts cite as the company’s expense related to those allegations for that fiscal year ^{[1] [2]}. This $50 million is an accounting entry in corporate filings representing costs the company recognized, and news outlets reported it as the headline total for “settlements” in that fiscal period, making it the commonly referenced metric in 2017 coverage ^[1].

2. What smaller contemporaneous tallies showed — rolling totals in early 2017

Reporting earlier in 2017 tracked incremental disbursements: CNN Money noted that by the end of March 2017 Twenty-First Century Fox had incurred about $45 million, including roughly $10 million in the first three months of 2017, suggesting a running tally that culminated in the $50 million fiscal-year figure ^[4]. Those monthly and quarterly snapshots explain why different outlets reported slightly different totals — some cited the rolling $45 million or $10 million increments while others referenced the finalized fiscal-year entry.

3. Why the $50 million figure does not capture all payouts — executive exits and exclusions

Variety and The New York Times emphasized that the $50 million figure excluded payments made to departed senior executives, including settlements tied to the departures of Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, which were handled separately and therefore are not included in the fiscal 2017 “settlement” charge the company reported ^{[2] [1]}. This distinction matters: corporate accounting for a fiscal period can omit separate buyouts, severance, or private agreements, meaning public line-item totals understate the broader financial fallout tied to the scandal.

4. The separate $90 million shareholder settlement — a parallel but distinct resolution

In November 2017 Twenty-First Century Fox reached a $90 million settlement with shareholders over claims tied to the harassment scandal; Reuters reported that insurers for Fox officers and directors would pay that amount, and the settlement included governance reforms such as creating a Workplace Professionalism and Inclusion Council ^[3]. This $90 million is separate from the company’s $50 million in fiscal expenses and was structured to resolve shareholder litigation rather than individual harassment claims, so it should not be combined with the $50 million as a single “harassment settlement” total without clarifying the difference.

5. Later enforcement and fines that add context but are not 2017 settlement totals

Regulatory and agency actions after 2017 further affected Fox News: in 2021 the New York City Commission on Human Rights fined Fox News $1 million as part of an enforcement action requiring training and other remedial steps ^[5]. While relevant to the scandal’s broader cost and remediation, this 2021 fine is distinct from the 2017 settlement accounting and should not be conflated with the fiscal-year settlement totals reported in 2017.

6. Why different outlets reported different numbers — timing, accounting, and payor differences

Discrepancies among contemporaneous reports stem from different reference points: some pieces cited rolling totals through a calendar month, others quoted fiscal-year corporate disclosures, and still others reported insurer-funded or shareholder settlements that were not company expense items. Understanding whether a figure refers to Fox’s own reported expense, insurer payments, or settlements to shareholders is essential before aggregating numbers; mixing these categories leads to double counting or misleading totals ^{[4] [1] [3]}.

7. Bottom line for the question asked — what “total settlements in 2017” most reporters meant

When asked “How much did Fox News pay in total settlements for harassment claims in 2017?” the clearest, contemporaneous corporate figure is about $50 million recorded by Twenty-First Century Fox for its fiscal year ending June 30, 2017, as reported in August 2017 ^{[1] [2]}. If one intends to include insurer-paid shareholder settlements or later regulatory fines, those are separate items — notably the $90 million shareholder settlement (insurer-funded) announced in November 2017 and the $1 million NYC fine in 2021 — and should be treated as distinct from the $50 million company expense ^{[3] [5]}.