What are the documented settlement amounts and timelines in sexual‑harassment claims involving Fox News personalities?
Executive summary
Documented public settlements tied to sexual‑harassment claims at Fox News include high‑profile individual payouts — notably Gretchen Carlson’s $20 million settlement and reported payments totaling $13 million tied to Bill O’Reilly — as well as corporate and regulatory resolutions such as a $90 million shareholder settlement in late 2017 and a $1 million New York City human‑rights settlement in 2021, with the company acknowledging roughly $50 million in related payouts during a 12‑month period ending June 30 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. These figures are drawn from contemporaneous press reporting and company filings; some claims were resolved privately or through insurers and courts, which means public totals are an incomplete but documentable record [3] [5].
1. Major individual settlements and reported payouts
The clearest individual settlement on record is the agreement announced to resolve Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit: Fox (21st Century Fox/Fox News) agreed to pay Carlson $20 million and issued a public apology, a settlement reported in September 2016 that followed her July 2016 suit accusing then‑chairman Roger Ailes of sexual harassment [1] [6]. Reporting by The New York Times and summarizing outlets later identified roughly $13 million in payments tied to claims against Bill O’Reilly across multiple women and years, disclosures that contributed to his departure in 2017 [2] [5]. A separate reported settlement with former contributor Tamara N. Holder was described as “more than $2.5 million,” according to contemporaneous New York Times coverage cited by other outlets [7].
2. Aggregate corporate payouts and the $50 million disclosure
In a corporate filing covering the 12 months ended June 30 (year identified in reporting as 2017), Twenty‑First Century Fox disclosed it had paid roughly $50 million in settlements relating to sexual‑harassment allegations at Fox News, a figure that aggregated multiple settlements and was highlighted publicly as the scandal unfolded [5]. That disclosure was part of the company’s attempt to quantify exposure while numerous individual settlements and internal investigations were still being reported.
3. The $90 million shareholder/derivative settlement and accountability measures
Beyond individual claims, 21st Century Fox negotiated a separate $90 million settlement in November 2017 to resolve shareholder derivative claims tied to the scandal; that settlement was structured to be paid by insurers of Fox officers, directors and the estate of Roger Ailes, and it was described as benefiting shareholders and prompting governance reforms including a workplace professionalism council [3] [8] [9]. The company and some defendants did not admit wrongdoing in the derivative settlement, which was positioned by reporting as a corporate governance resolution rather than a direct admission on individual harassment allegations [3] [8].
4. Regulatory resolution and later enforcement
A later enforcement action resulted in Fox News agreeing to pay $1 million to settle an investigation by the New York City Commission on Human Rights; the June 29, 2021 agreement followed the commission’s finding of a “culture of pervasive sexual harassment and retaliation” and imposed training and reporting requirements in addition to the monetary penalty [4]. The commission described the fine as the largest civil penalty under its Human Rights Law for such violations and required structural reforms at the network [4].
5. Timeline context and what the public record does — and does not — show
The cascade began publicly in July 2016 when Carlson filed suit and Ailes resigned that summer; Carlson’s settlement emerged by September 2016 and reporting of O’Reilly‑related payments surfaced in early 2017 amid his exit [1] [2]. The $50 million company disclosure covered a 12‑month window ending June 30 (reported in August 2017) and the $90 million shareholder settlement closed in November 2017, while regulatory enforcement produced the $1 million settlement in June 2021 [5] [3] [4]. Reporting documents multiple other, smaller and often confidential settlements (including at least two other women who settled during the Ailes probe) but does not provide a comprehensive, line‑by‑line ledger of every payout or the exact timing of many private agreements; insurers, nondisclosure terms and derivative‑claim mechanics obscured full public accounting [1] [3].
Conclusion: documented amounts vs. remaining opacity
Publicly documented, widely reported figures include Carlson’s $20 million, roughly $13 million tied to O’Reilly claims, a reported $2.5+ million Holder settlement, a corporate disclosure of $50 million over a 12‑month span, a $90 million shareholder settlement, and a $1 million NYC human‑rights settlement — together signaling substantial financial and reputational costs — but gaps remain because many settlements were private, some paid through insurance, and others were resolved as part of derivative or corporate governance deals rather than admitted individual liability [1] [2] [7] [5] [3] [4].