Two days ago, News Hounds reported on the firing of Fox News chief Roger Ailes’ “right hand man,” Brian Lewis. In subsequent developments, Politico reported that Ailes had suspected Lewis of leaking information to New York Magazine writer Gabriel Sherman, also the author of a forthcoming book about Ailes and Fox. You may recall that Sherman is such a touchy subject for Ailes that he canceled Sherman’s subscription to a local paper Ailes and his wife own.
Sherman also reported on the firing of Lewis with a headline saying, “Roger Ailes Fired His PR Chief, and Now He’s All Alone.” If you read the article, it’s clear that Sherman meant that Ailes is isolated, not that he’s literally alone. Meanwhile, Media Matters reported that at least 10 Fox News personalities took to Twitter to refute Sherman, many with tweets such as the one from Karl Rove emphasizing that Ailes’ door is always open. Some also suggested that Lewis was not such a close advisor to Ailes.
However, Politico's Dylan Byers echoes Sherman:
Ailes is now for the first time in history running Fox News without the man who was often described as his “right hand.” Lewis joined the network as vice president of media relations six months before its launch in 1996. He was promoted to senior vice president in 2000 and executive vice president in 2006. In his official biography on the Fox News website, which is no longer available, Lewis was credited with “launching the Fox News Channel to overwhelming consumer awareness, creating and implementing successful campaigns favorably positioning FNC against competing networks and corporations, and handling all crisis situations that have threatened the network.
Stay tuned!