Jewish Fox News Commentator: Agents Told Me Not To Report Sexual Assault
A frequent contributor to Fox News Channel claims that she was told by her talent agency not to report her allegation that she had been sexually assaulted by a Fox News executive.
Tamara Holder recounted to the Huffington Post on Tuesday that she told one of her agents, Steve Levine of ICM, last September that a senior Fox News executive had tried to force her to perform oral sex on him the previous year. Holder wanted to file an internal complaint with Fox, but Levine allegedly told her that doing so would brand her as “toxic” and harm her career.
She emailed Levine and her other agents at ICM, one of the biggest media agencies in the world, to tell them that she would not report the incident, to which Levine responded, “Good news and I think a wise position to take.”
But Holder later changed her mind and reported the incident. While she eventually won a settlement from Fox that, according to The New York Times, reached more than $2.5 million, she says that it was done despite her agency’s refusal to help her or corroborate her claims. Holder’s contract with Fox News was not renewed.
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter at @aidenpink.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO