01/09/2020 12:44 pm ET. And she sued him for sexual harassment. Yet what forces are represented as causing the misalignments are telling. Just know the entire network is with Roger. Every narrative has to create a moral universe, and in order to locate power in this film, it’s important to think about who represents the establishment and why. It's a combination of characters. "This is crap, and you know it." The Megyn Kelly we meet here is decidedly not the one who deployed her prosecutorial skills on her show The Kelly File to stoke racist conspiracy theories or lecture viewers about the whiteness of Jesus and Santa. The Iranian-British actress has previously appeared on Homeland, How I Met Your Mother and Scandal. In 2008, he married Kelly, and the two have three kids together. Utilizamos cookies, próprios e de terceiros, que o reconhecem e identificam como um usuário único, para garantir a melhor experiência de navegação, personalizar conteúdo e anúncios, e melhorar o desempenho do nosso site e serviços. While he was able to resist prosthetic makeup on the Netflix drama, he submitted here. In a pair of interviews with Stephen Colbert and Seth … In the Lionsgate movie, Theron plays Megyn Kelly; Kidman plays Gretchen Carlson; and Robbie plays producer Kayla Pospisil. “Thank god more women are being fierce and they have found the courage from within and the bravery to come forward and say, ‘Me too.’ And they’re saying they’re not going to put up with this crap anymore.”. CHARLIZE THERON: (As Megyn Kelly) It's like we're telling women, go on, speak up for yourself. There's a composite, kind of a young producer played by Margot Robbie who is kind of the third woman alongside Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson and then Theron as Megyn Kelly. In a letter, Megyn Kelly thanked Bill O'Reilly for promoting her husband's book. This week, O’Reilly used his one-time friendly relationships with his former colleagues as a way to defend his own reputation. Because just as the film sidesteps Carlson’s and Kelly’s problematic racist moments, it arguably uses the figure of the white queer to soft-pedal the network’s questionable racial politics. “It was about two and a half hours every shooting day,” Lithgow tells ET about his transformation. The Murdochs and Ailes had basically settled on her as the future face and star of Fox News. Want to support our journalism? The three worked together at Fox News. The new movie Bombshell tells the story of former Fox News anchors Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly accusing then-Fox CEO Roger Ailes of … Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy: Penn National Gaming’s Greatest Asset or Its Biggest Liability? A previous version of this post stated that she thanked him for promoting her own book. In the film, he takes on Murdoch, the Australian-born media mogul who founded News Corp and later created FOX News Channel. Carlson is an unambiguous hero in part because she is seen as refusing to sell out to Fox News’ politics, which is only possible because her racial and trans politics aren’t represented in the film. Last updated on October 23, 2017, at 5:16 p.m. “O’Reilly’s suggestion that no one ever complained about his behavior is false,” Kelly told her viewers Monday morning. “This will go down as one of the biggest moments in history,” The View co-host said, before revealing that the project hits close to home. Other composite characters in the film played by notable actors include D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place) as Rebekah, Holland Taylor (Mr. Mercedes) as Ailes’ assistant Faye Orselli and the members of Megyn Kelly’s FOX production team: Brigette Lundy-Paine (Atypical) as Julia Clarke, Liv Hewson (Santa Clarita Diet) as Lily Balin and Rob Delaney (Catastrophe) as Gil Norman. Kayla comes forward and leaves the network. It’s also being received as a kind of #MeToo movie about women finding their voice in the Trump era — and calling out institutions that ignore or outright support abuse and harassment. Become a BuzzFeed News member. With its emphasis on Megyn Kelly’s and Gretchen Carlson’s stories, Bombshell initially seems like a movie version of that celebrity feminist analysis. "It's dishonest in the extreme. As a neophyte associate producer (and, as we later learn, a queer woman), she helps expand the film’s depiction of power, both in terms of its identity palette and in giving a view from someone of a lower status. The film also stars John Lithgow as Ailes, Malcolm McDowell as Ruper Murdoch, Allison Janney, Mark Duplass, Connie Britton, Alice Eve, and Rob Delaney. For Kayla, Carlson and Kelly represent the conservative establishment. In addition to her appearance as Rudi Bakhtiar -- a journalist who filed a sexual harassment complaint against FOX News’ Washington bureau chief -- in Bombshell, she’s also a series regular on the Starz series Counterpart. And in the days that followed, he fought for his professional life. She wanted to see the landscape. But its new, suggestive title, playing on the double meaning of news scandal and blonde femininity, has helped sell the movie as a powerful, zeitgeist-y story about women speaking truth to power. Now that Harvey Weinstein, Ailes, O’Reilly and others have been taken down by accusations, Colbert wanted to know if Carlson believes the women who have alleged similar behavior by President Donald Trump. (Kelly was later fired over a blackface controversy.). CORNISH: David, let's talk more about that because Megyn Kelly is positioned as the key player in the pushback against Roger Ailes. I was truly touched - I know how busy you are, especially that time of day. So it's not that they don't say what Fox News in the opinion of this movie is, but they don't sort of talk about any nexus between what might make it particularly challenging or different to have this happening at Fox News, I don't think. ", So what. Kayla declines, opting to join Bill O’Reilly’s team, in a moment that implies she’s leaning into, even “selling out” to, the more powerful person to ensure her way to the top. In the interview, O'Reilly suggested that the son of former Fox News commentator Eric Bolling died because of allegations against his father, which the Times also reported. Unlike Carlson, Kelly has a whole hour on NBC every morning to say just about whatever she wants to in regards to Fox’s sexual harassment problem. Prior to her current role as host on the FOX News Channel program Justice with Judge Jeanine, Pirro was famous for serving as the investigating attorney in the 1982 disappearance of Kathie Durst. Robbie joue un personnage de fiction nommé Kayla Popsisil. In an interview with the New York Times, Theron mentioned the inclusion of the white Santa moment as one of the ways the film didn’t shy away from Kelly’s complexities. While boasting a star-studded cast, the film's story is told through the eyes of news anchors Gretchen Carlson (Kidman) and Megyn Kelly (Theron), as well as a … Another letter written by Kelly thanks O'Reilly for promoting her husband Douglas Brunt's book and calls O'Reilly "a true friend + mentor.". Looks like your browser doesn't support JavaScript. Since both Kelly and Carlson have alleged sexual harassment while they were at Fox News, it seems that in posting these letters O'Reilly is arguing that he's innocent because the two women thanked him. FOLKENFLIK: It was a cataclysm and a thunderclap. Kayla, who is harassed quite graphically and invasively by Ailes in one of the film’s most sensitively rendered scenes, tries to confide in Carr as soon as it happens, but Carr asks her not to involve her; she can’t help, because she’s a “lesbian at Fox News.” Kayla hesitates coming forward, and after Carlson goes public, she calls Carr for advice while on a date with a man, but their conversation becomes about Kayla not being openly gay (in contrast to Carr). CORNISH: And Linda Holmes, host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, here we are again. Ubach, who has previously appeared in Legally Blonde, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce and Euphoria, takes on Pirro in Bombshell. Ao continuar com a navegação em nosso site, você aceita o uso de cookies. She said she believes People magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff, who tells her story of Trump’s alleged sexual assault on her in Carlson’s book. In 2018, around the time she left the network, it was revealed that Guilfoyle was reportedly dating Donald Trump Jr. Unlike others who left Fox News amid public allegations and extensive investigations, I parted ways with Fox News in an amicable way and any reference to a firing is flatly wrong. Contact Blake Montgomery at blake.montgomery@buzzfeed.com. The new movie "Bombshell" opens wide today. THROWING SHADE. After the settlement, Fox News restarted contract negotiations with O'Reilly and eventually reached an agreement to pay him $25 million a year for the next four years. She wanted to make sure that she had the backing of the sons of Rupert Murdoch, who were sort of in the wings to help their father lead this organization as their father very gradually transitioned control to them. He is not one of them.”, As for the personal notes that O’Reilly shared on his website, Kelly added, “It’s right out of the playbook of a lot of these guys. And when I’m on The Morning Show, I play No. Most importantly, though, neither Kelly’s husband nor Kayla mean that Carlson or Kelly are the establishment as powerful white women in media. I think if you're going because of how you feel about Fox News, you'll be disappointed in any direction. In a pair of interviews with Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers, the former Fox News hosts put their old colleague (and network) on blast. I mean, what about Gretchen Carlson's role in this? People are lazy morons. “Bombshell” was written by Charles Randolph and is helmed by director Jay Roach. "O'Reilly's claim that no one ever complained about him is false. CORNISH: In the end, who is this movie for, Linda? It's certainly not a comedy. “I put on that fat suit and those frumpy costumes and it took about five seconds to feel like the man.”. They are “establishment” in vague terms of class and media positioning, but can never be overtly represented as the establishment as powerful white women because then the film’s message would get too complicated. Eric Bolling responds to O'Reilly statement to NYT that Bolling's son died because of allegations against his fathe… https://t.co/D3fypRIojx. 5 on the cast list to support Reese and Jen and their vision,” Duplass tells ET about what it means to be an ally to women in Hollywood. “I know because I complained.” She later shared in full the email she sent to her Fox News bosses in November 2016, which ended with the line, “You’ve got a hell of a guy hosting that 8pm hour.”. The movie’s introduction of white queerness into the identity mix is important. He also claimed to have "shocking information" to prove his innocence, although it's unclear what that information may be or if the letters from Kelly and Carlson were part of the exonerating evidence. "O'Reilly's claim that no one ever complained about him is false. “One of the nice things doing this show now, after doing my old show for 10 years in character, is that I get to sit down and have nice conversations with people I made so many jokes about in the old days,” Colbert said. 1, does that track with your reporting? Angela Weiss / Getty Images, Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images, stoke racist conspiracy theories or lecture viewers about the whiteness of Jesus, lacking any morning show hosting experience, longtime network fixture Tamron Hall was passed over, a majority of white women voted for Trump, no counterpart, for instance, of radical, left-wing women of color pundits or media figures. This is how the movie frames her big moment sparring with Trump during the now-infamous presidential debate that turned her into a Vanity Fair cover story symbol of lean-in empowerment. In the film, she takes on the role of the former FOX News personality and co-host of The Five. In order to be a more universal, 2019-style story, the movie knows it can’t just focus on two rich, powerful straight white celebrities. The movie defines Trump’s, Ailes’, and Fox News’ politics as problematic exclusively through gender, rather than also contextualizing gender within the network’s racial politics. Speaking to ET about working on the film, Robbie reveals she “had prepared myself for something spectacular… I was like, ‘The bar is set very, very high in my mind.’” And somehow, she says, “it exceeded those expectations.”. According to the Times, the allegations included "repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship and the sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material to [the victim]. In focusing on the sensational media mechanics and legal machinations of the Carlson and Kelly stories, the film successfully turns questions of power and harassment into a stylish Hollywood procedural-as-thriller. There is almost an affirmative action spot for such women on cable news and morning shows — including Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Meghan McCain on The View. I mean, ask yourselves, who keeps thank you notes from nine years earlier and puts them in a file just in case they need them, right?”, latest revelations about Bill O’Reilly’s history of sexual harassment settlements, post personal notes from the two women on his website, tells her story of Trump’s alleged sexual assault on her. Bombshell, the new Jay Roach movie about the women of Fox News who took down chair Roger Ailes, unveils its story almost like a procedural. “Those stories went away pretty quickly,” she said, but now she sees the culture changing. Another right wing conspiracy? Kelly, meanwhile, goes back and forth on whether she should reveal that Ailes harassed her a decade earlier. The stark official trailer for “Bombshell” is here, and gives viewers a first look at a near-unrecognizable Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly, Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, and Margot Robbie as Fox News producer Kayla Pospisil. "Their endgame is 'Let's link O'Reilly with Harvey Weinstein,'" O'Reilly said. I can't comment unless I want seven or eight more years of litigation that puts my children in a kill zone." Are we looking at a comedy? When Kelly is dealing with her post-Trump interview fallout, her husband says, “Honey, get real, you are the establishment.” He seems to be referring to the fact that Fox News has become part of the mainstream media. Presumably, representing the network’s racial politics would be too controversial and make the protagonists too “unlikable” for the broad moviegoing audience. (Instead, there’s even a melodramatic scene asking us to sympathize with her as a mother, when her children are scared by a paparazzo at their hotel. “Maybe,” she says, suggesting she’d ultimately break through that muzzle, while also presenting her as the heroic voice that made Bombshell possible. In the trailer for “Bombshell,” which recounts the stories of female Fox News personnel and their interactions with Roger Ailes leading up to his downfall, Robbie walks through the news station’s offices, attracting the attention of a reporter (Kate McKinnon) on her way to the elevator.