In "Bombshell," the film outlines the first account of allegations as appearing in 2016 from Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson. This, of course, acts as the catalyst for the downfall of Roger Ailes, but it's not exactly how things went down. The initial allegation of misconduct came from a Ailes biography in 2014, "The Loudest Voice in the Room" by Gabriel Sherman. This biography was a point of contention for Ailes, and he had tried to suppress it from being released. In an article at The Ringer, Sherman wrote: "Although he may not have intended it, Ailes' confrontational response to the reporting of this book was as revealing as any comment he would have made in the course of an extended interview."
According to the Los Angeles Times, the book described how Ailes was willing to pay a female producer an additional $100 a week to have sex with him. It was two years later that Carlson made her first statement against Ailes and the scandal spilled out into the public eye, leading to much more extensive coverage. For the purposes of "Bombshell," the narrative begins with Carlson's allegation, perhaps to portray the events from the point of the view of the main female characters. It is, however, important to recognize that this abuse of power from Ailes may have dated back more than 10 years before Carlson spoke out.
