Shepard better keep his head below Roger A's firing line. dont ask; dont tell.
Looks like you were right about this one. I give Shep props for wanting to come out. A shame how he was treated, if this story is true.
Fox News Allegedly Demoted Shepard Smith Because He Asked to Come Out as Gay
Last edited Thu May 1, 2014, 05:54 PM - Edit history (1)
Gawker's J.K. Trotter reports today that "multiple sources" say Fox News anchor Shepard Smith approached network honcho Roger Ailes about the possibility of coming out as gay and was rebuffed. Smith subsequently was moved from prime-time to an afternoon slot, a move that one of the sources in the story called a "demotion."
Trotter's piece involves dramatic events at a picnic:
A few weeks before approaching Ailes about coming out, Smith surprised Fox staffers by bringing his boyfriend, a 26-year-old Fox producer named Gio Graziano, to a company picnic at Ailes’s compound in Garrison, New York. Held annually on Independence Day weekend, the picnic is a small gathering—only executives, on-air talent, and their frontline producers are invited—so Smith likely felt comfortable bringing along his steady partner.
Despite the intimate venue, the new couple put several Fox executives on high alert. According to multiple sources with knowledge of the picnic, the most dramatic reaction came from Bill Shine, the channel’s Executive Vice President of Programming. Shine “flipped out,” one source said, when Smith introduced Graziano to attendees. (Within and outside of Fox, Shine, who is 50 and grew up on Long Island, carries a reputation for insensitivity toward gay people. “He’s a major, major homophobe,” a Fox insider said.)
more
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/04/30/shepard_smith_fox_news_coming_out_request_allegedly_led_to_demotion.html?
