Former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly has seen Bombshell. She invited her husband and three former Fox employees who were subject to Roger Ailes’ sexual harassment for a screening of Jay Roach’s Golden Globe-nominated film. Once they’d viewed the movie together, the group talked about the “twirl” John Lithgow’s Ailes tells multiple women to stand up and do in his office.
Each of the three women recalled similar behavior from the late Fox CEO compared to what’s portrayed in Bombshell, including Megyn Kelly. Here’s what she said:
So I was asked to do the spin, and God help me, I did it. I know people think it's like, 'Oh yeah, you have to spin around.' But I remember feeling like: I put myself through school; I was offered partnership at Jones Day, one of the best law firms in the world; I argued before federal courts of appeal all over the nation; I came here, I'm covering the U.S. Supreme Court, I graduated with honors from all of my programs, and now he wants me to twirl. And I did it. If you don't get how demeaning that is, I can't help you.
Unfortunately, it sounds like this aspect of Bombshell is painfully accurate. Megyn Kelly explained that while it may not initially sound like a big deal, it offended her to be asked to stand up and spin around during a business-related meeting with Roger Ailes. The other former Fox News employees also shared stories of the infamous spin.
Juliet Huddy, who is briefly portrayed by Once Upon a Time’s Jennifer Morrison in Bombshell, said that Roger Ailes would tell her to turn around so he could see her ass, and then ask her to gain some weight because she was too skinny. Julie Zann, who was a producer on the network, said she was asked to twirl, and she did it. Rudi Bakhtiar, played by Nazanin Boniadi in Bombshell, recalled being asked the same thing, but she refused.
In the preview to a Megyn Kelly Presents video on a response to Bombshell, these women touched on more claims of Roger Ailes. Julie Zann broke down as she explained that the former Fox CEO wanted her to ask him to give him oral sex. Juliet Huddy talked about how she lost her house and he walked away with millions after finally stepping down from the role. Rudi Bakhtiar discussed how at the time this treatment was thought of just the “way it works.” Take a look below:
Bombshell follows former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit against Roger Ailes three years ago and how his eventual resignation came about. Carlson is played by Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron disappears into the role of Megyn Kelly. The real-life anchor originally came out to say that she would make edits to Bombshell considering she wasn’t part of the filmmaking herself. Now, it looks like she’s taking the movie as an opportunity to discuss the events surrounding it.
Check out our fact check of how accurate Bombshell is and the best Charlize Theron movies, ranked!
