The Mirror

HUH?! Nicole Kidman To Play Gretchen Carlson In Roger Ailes Flick

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Betsy Rothstein Gossip blogger
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On one hand, Nicole Kidman seems like an odd choice to play ex-Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who brought down Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes in the final year of his life for sexual harassment. On the other, she may be a good fit with her extensive knowledge of abuse in HBO’s “Big Little Lies.”

In the series, Kidman is “Celeste Wright,” a wife and mother who is sporadically battered by her husband, “Perry Wright,” played by Alexander Skarsgard.

Carlson, a former Miss America and Stanford grad, netted $20 million from 21st Century Fox Corporation in her lawsuit against Ailes. But she can’t really talk details.

“As the first person to take the risk – it also means I can’t share all of the details of what really happened, so I hope the true story is depicted. The most important thing is that so many more women are now believed and have been given a voice. #BeFierce #Stop Sexual Harassment,” Carlson tweeted Wednesday morning to promote the movie.

Ailes is probably thankful he won’t be around to see the movie. He always denied the sexual harassment allegations made against him. He died in May, 2017.

Variety got the exclusive on Kidman playing Carlson in the film, but all the Hollywood rags are running the news.

Another strange fit: Charlize Theron will play former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, now a talk show host on NBC’s “TODAY” Show.

Kelly has said Ailes harassed her and has spoken out about sexual harassment on her underwhelming talk show.

“He was always bawdy and had an inappropriate sense of humor,” she said at a Business Insider conference in November, 2017.

But eventually, she says, things turned physical.

“That feeling I’ll never forget — of going in there and having him lock that door,” Kelly said. “It culminated in him trying to be with me physically, and it was only at that point where you couldn’t pretend it wasn’t happening anymore that I really had to come to terms with it. And I ran out of the guy’s office; he tried to grab me three times and make out with me.”

Kelly has said she reported the incident but nothing was done about it.