NEW YORK: Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron are to lead an all-star cast in a new movie about former Fox News hosts Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly, who spoke up about sexual harassment at the network before the #MeToo movement kicked off.
Kidman is to play Carlson, the Stanford and Oxford-educated former Miss America and prominent Fox News anchor who accused the late media mogul Roger Ailes of sexual harassment, the entertainment press reported.
Nicole Kidman to play Gretchen Carlson in Roger Ailes movie (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/OSBUDEMjch pic.twitter.com/un9tdhEI9d
— Variety (@Variety) August 1, 2018
“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,” Carlson tweeted Wednesday, linking to a Variety story that revealed Kidman’s role.
Variety said Theron would play Kelly, who shot to fame for clashing with Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election campaign, and who now fronts a morning magazine show on rival network NBC.
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Rising Australian star Margot Robbie is also in talks to join the cast, The Hollywood Reporter said. A spokeswoman for the production house confirmed that the film was about the women of Fox News and currently untitled.
Charles Randolph, who won an Oscar for 2015 The Big Short about the housing bubble that led to the 2008 financial crash, is also on board, reports said.
Ailes, who co-founded Fox News and helped redraw conservative American politics, was forced to resign in July 2016 in a blaze of sexual harassment allegations and a lawsuit from Carlson.
He denied all the allegations and died in May 2017, less than a year later.
Under Ailes’ leadership, Fox became America’s most-watched cable news channel, home to key conservative political commentators. He also advised Republican presidents from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan, and was close to Trump.
Carlson claimed she was sacked for refusing his advances.
The lawsuit opened the gates to a flood of allegations from women, including Kelly, who accused him of groping them or making unwanted advances — and sought to expose what they called a culture of misogyny at the network.
Ailes’ downfall pre-dated the #MeToo reckoning against sexual harassment that was sparked by sexual misconduct allegations against Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein and seen a litany of powerful men lose their jobs.