Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera has publicly apologized for being “totally blindsided” by accusations that Roger Ailes, his former boss, had sexually harassed numerous women at the network.
“The man we knew as the blustering genius who invented our mighty Fox News Channel is a deceitful, selfish misogynist, if the charges against him are true,” Rivera wrote in a Facebook post titled “Roger and Me” on Thursday night. “And if they are true, then his shame and banishment are well earned.”
Rivera originally stood by the former network chairman when fellow anchor Gretchen Carlson publicly accused Ailes in July of harassing her. Carlson’s lawsuit reportedly encouraged more than 20 other women to come forward, including primetime star Megyn Kelly. Ailes resigned within weeks.
In his Facebook post, Rivera goes into detail about his decades-long professional and personal history with Ailes to explain his initial shock over the allegations, saying “he had my back through thick and thin,” especially when Rivera was covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Now I am filled with regret for stubbornly discounting their various allegations,” Rivera added, referring to the women who have come forward. “Like victims of sexual assault, those alleging harassment deserve the presumption of credibility.”
Rivera even apologized to New York magazine writer Gabriel Sherman, who’s broken most of the news around the story. Sherman thanked Rivera for the apology on Twitter Thursday night.
Greta Van Susteren, another Fox veteran who announced this week that she is leaving the network, shared Rivera’s post on her own Facebook page on Friday.
Meanwhile, 21st Century Fox settled the lawsuit with Carlson this week.
Read Rivera’s full Facebook post here.