The company confirms that Lewis, who was senior advisor to Roger Ailes, was terminated for cause and escorted out of News Corporation headquarters in Manhattan last month.
- Aug 21, 2013
AceShowbiz - Fox News has terminated one of its top executives, Brian Lewis. A 21st Century Fox spokesperson confirms that the former executive vice president of corporate communications at the company, who was considered Roger Ailes' right-hand man, was fired in July.
"After an extensive internal investigation of Brian Lewis' conduct by Fox News, it was determined that he should be terminated for cause, specifically for issues relating to financial irregularities, as well as for multiple, material and significant breaches of his employment contract," the spokesperson says in a statement released on Tuesday, August 20. "He was terminated for cause on July 25."
News of Lewis' termination was shocking because he had been an important player at Fox News Channel since Ailes launched Fox News in the mid-1990s. His close relationship with Ailes, however, had soured badly within the last year or so.
"This has been coming for a long time," says a senior executive, who refuses to be identified. "They have not been close for a long time. I have known this was coming... It had gotten really nasty and acrimonious between the two of them."
Lewis cannot be reached for comment. Fox News has not announced his successor.
