Gretchen Carlson, who sued Roger Ailes for sexual harassment, calls firing of Fox News’ Ed Henry a ‘victory’

Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson is celebrating the firing of former network colleague Ed Henry as a “victory” for women.

Carlson, who was in the center of a multimillion-dollar sexual harassment lawsuit against the late conservative news mogul Roger Ailes, told Yahoo Entertainment that the termination of Henry, co-anchor of “America’s Newsroom” is a reminder that times are changing.

“Four years ago, nobody would have been paying attention to it,” said the former Miss-America-turned-cable-news-star.

“Unfortunately [sexual misconduct] was rampant in every industry and every socioeconomic background in every profession. And now, people are having to face the music,” she said.

On July 6, 2016, Carlson decided to embark on a potentially career-killing move as she filed a lawsuit against the industry superpower Ailes. Carlson, who had been at the network for over a decade, became the first woman to step forward with sexual misconduct allegations against her boss.

Her risky move paid off. Ailes was forced to leave the company in 2017, and Carlson received an apology from the network and a $20 million settlement.

“It was the scariest decision that I’ve ever made and the scariest move, but I want to be a beacon of hope for everyone else out there that I was victorious and that’s true through whatever risks that I took that other women can follow suit and they can join our fight together,” she said.

“Some days it’s incomprehensible to me what a big deal this all became,” she continued, happy to have contributed to “this massive cultural revolution.”

After it was announced that Henry had been terminated for sexual misconduct, Carlson wrote on Twitter that, “now would be the time for Fox to release all of us ... muzzled by [nondisclosure agreements] (if everything has changed as they say it has). We’ve demanded & were waiting & why created @liftourvoicesus to help others!,” she said referring to the nonprofit Lift Our Voices.

The organization was created to fight against measures used by certain companies that “have prevented employees from publicly discussing and disclosing toxic workplace conditions, including sexual harassment and assault.”

“Which is what I’m fighting for right now, for all people to no longer be muddled in silence,” Carlson told Yahoo Entertainment. “If there’s been so much forward-thinking and progress being made there, then they shouldn’t have any problem with releasing me, my other colleagues in Lift Our Voices, Diana Falzone and Julie Roginsky and anyone else who’s been forced to sign an NDA.”

Carlson’s story became a prime example that the #MeToo movement had begun to shake things up in industries where toxic male culture ran unchecked for generations.

It also turned into a defining moment in popular culture. Her story was adapted to the big screen in the 2019 Oscar-nominated drama “Bombshell,” in which Carlson was portrayed by Nicole Kidman.