Fox News anchor Shepard Smith revealed he is gay in an interview with the Huffington Post and defended former Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes against claims that Ailes urged him to never come out about his sexual orientation in public.
“[Ailes] was as nice as he could be to me. I loved him like a father,” Smith said in the interview.
“I trusted him with my career and with ― I trusted him and trusts were betrayed. People outside this company can’t know [how painful that betrayal was]. This place has its enemies, but inside, it was very personal, and very scarring and horrifying,” he added.
Smith also said Ailes never made a homophobic comment in his presence and treated him with respect.
“He treated me with respect, just respect,” he said, adding:
I wasn’t new in the business when I came here ― I’d been doing reporting for 12 years ― but I wasn’t old in it either, and he gave me every opportunity in the world and he never asked anything of me but that we get it right, try to get it right every day. It was a very warm and loving and comfortable place.
Ailes resigned as chairman and CEO of Fox News amid sexual harassment claims by former host Gretchen Carlson.
Smith currently hosts Shepard Smith Reporting on weekday afternoons and manages Fox News’ breaking news division.
