She says people regularly criticised her views (she is a Democrat), but that was part of the job. She says the network kept renewing her contract and resigning her.
Until, that is, she reported alleged incidents of sexual assault.
She then left the network, with a financial settlement that prevented her from discussing the claims.
So when 21st Century Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch recently gave an interview dismissing the gravity of sexual harassment allegations at Fox News, you can see why Holder would have felt pretty pissed off.
Especially when he used the word “nonsense” to describe the full extent of Fox New’s sexual misconduct problem on the business. He’s dismissive of the issue, suggests it was isolated, and that much of the claims probably amounted to “a bit of flirting.”
It’s proven to be some expensive nonsense for Murdoch. His network has compensated numerous women over such claims, and dismissed its chairman and CEO Roger Ailes.
In an incredible interview with CNN, Holder responds to Murdoch’s comments, breaking her silence, and risking being sued in the process.
“I had a man pull out his penis in his office and shove my head on it,” Tamara told CNN’s Brian Stelter. “That was not flirting. That was criminal. That was not sexual harassment. There were no gray areas or whatever Matt Damon recently said. This is criminal, and I’m not the only case. There are women that can’t speak out.”
Holder claims Murdoch is either a “liar or delusional” over the comments he made, and she questions whether shareholders really want so much of their money going to settlement payouts.
“Fox News ruined peoples’ lives,” she said. “He ruined my life I don’t have a job in TV anymore because the place that he has secured down like Fort Knox, allowed abusive predators to prey on women who just wanted to work. That is not nonsense. This is people’s lives.”
thank you for sharing your story with @brianstelter today… i know what it’s like, and that took a lot of guts! you have my respect and my support #MeToo https://t.co/38WDma6IEK
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) December 17, 2017
She said she felt compelled to speak out on behalf of all women who’ve been abused in their workplaces.
And she said Murdoch will probably sue, given her settlement demanded her silence. However, as a lawyer, she believes the fact Murdoch described sexual harassment claims at Fox News as “nonsense” that she is now legally able to respond.
“Because Mr Murdoch said what he said, that 60 seconds has allowed me to speak out.”
But aside from taking on one of the most powerful men in the world, the comments that really stood out from Holder was her repeated statement that “I just want to work” and “we just want to work”, when referring to the many women who have left the network — and other places of work — in similar circumstances.
She adds that she doesn’t want to be on television talking about these things, but rather the areas she was once employed to comment on: sports and legal affairs.
She urges other networks to consider hiring some of the women who’ve felt forced to leave their places of work due to sexual harassment and assault.
“As a plea to other network, not for myself, I’ll be OK, but hire one of us. It’s nice that we’re on to talk about this, but you have all this talent sitting at home, dying inside. We just want to work. Bring us back. Allow us to do what we did before we were abused.”
The plea’s not one that should be isolated to the United States alone. We’ve now heard countless stories of women in Australia who claim their careers have been shattered after experiencing sexual harassment or assault at work, and/or after reporting such allegations.
As Georgie Dent writes today, for many women the cost of being harassed – by Weinstein or anyone else – is impossible to quantify. Especially for women who publicly spoke out about before the Weinstein allegations, and the consequent #metoo campaign that emerged.
21st Century Fox has since issued a statement claiming the “nonsense” comment from Murdoch was in response to suggestions that sexual harassment will prevent the company from fully acquiring Sky.
“Under Rupert’s leadership and with his total support, the Company exited Roger Ailes, compensated numerous women who were mistreated; trained virtually all of its employees; exited its biggest star; and hired a new head of HR,” the statement said.
You can see Murdoch’s comments, as well as what Hoder thought of them, in the CNN video below.
Footage of the interview has gone viral.
On Twitter, Holder notes her relief at speaking out, stating that she “can now breathe”.
Knowing this, I can now breathe for the first time in years. I love all of you so much for listening, & @brianstelter & @yashar for letting me speak. Mad love. ❤️👊 https://t.co/JhkJhhPNLf
— Tamara Holder (@tamaraholder) December 17, 2017
The outpouring of support continues. Incredible. I’m reading every tweet, every email. The stories of your secret pains are heartbreaking. You’re not alone. I feel it too. We are together in this. All decent humans are together. Thank you. ❤️
— Tamara Holder (@tamaraholder) December 17, 2017