Fox News Channel

Fox Uses Trump as a Bad Example for Employees

Written by SK Ashby

Here's an amazing thing.

Fox as a company and "news" network is dedicated to protecting and projecting the Trump brand as much as anyone, but their employees are being shown video footage of Trump as a cautionary tale.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, employees attending anti-sexual harassment seminars are being shown the infamous Trump "pussy" tape.

The seminars — a series of routine workshops at multiple divisions at Fox, the most recent one taking place Tuesday on the studio lot in Los Angeles — are led by a human resources executive with a focus on preventing harassment, discrimination and retaliation in the workplace. One attendee, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells The Hollywood Reporter that toward the end of the 1-hour seminar Tuesday, a photo appeared on the big-screen (seminars are presented inside a movie theater on the lot) featuring Trump, Billy Bush and actress Arianne Zucker from the 2005 Access Hollywood tape. Just before meeting Zucker, Trump bragged to Bush about grabbing women "by the pussy" and, in reference to Zucker, said, “I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them.”

Trump certainly is an example of how one should not act, but it's not clear how much good this will do. Beside the fact that Fox promotes a man who they also see as a bad example, Trump didn't ultimately pay a price for his actions just as Fox News host Bill O'Reilly has yet to pay a price. What message is the company actually sending?

The message seems to be there's a different set of standards for low level employees and the company's big stars and political allies.

During a five-minute portion of the Fox presentation, "They went through the scenario of the tape, why it was harassment and why it's something you should report," says the employee. "There was an audible gasp in the room, like, 'Can you believe this is happening?' Trump was defended on Fox News after that tape came out.... Someone joked about getting fired for harassment and wondering if the defense could be, 'We were only told a behavior was bad once in a seminar,' but Fox News said it was 'just locker room talk' over and over again."

The duplicity of Fox is a sight to behold.