Andrea Tantaros Sues Fox News, Alleging Operatives Hacked Her Phone & Emails In Smear Campaign

Former Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly may be gone, but that doesn't mean the lawsuit faucet is turned off. Former Fox host Andrea Tantaros filed a suit in federal court today, alleging that key Fox News operatives hacked her phones and emails to conduct a smear campaign against her after she reported sexual harassment complaints against former CEO Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reily. In addition to Ailes, the suit names current co-president Bill Shine, PR executive Irena Briganti, and social-media consultant Peter Snyder as defendants, writes New York Magazine. 

Tantaros’s suit, filed in the Southern District of New York, details a shadowy plot that evokes the current season of Homeland. Tantaros accuses Peter Snyder, who runs the investment firm Disruptor, of orchestrating an army of Twitter sock-puppet trolls to harass her. Fox News operatives, according to Tantaros, also monitored her phone calls and emails, and used the information they acquired “to intimidate, terrorize, and crush her career through an endless stream of lewd, offensive, and career-damaging social media posts, blog entries and commentary.”

Tantaros alleges the hacking began around the time she was taken off the air in April 2016, after speaking up to network bosses about harassment at Fox News. (The network said her removal was for failing to get a sign-off from the company on her book.) According to the suit, “a forensic analysis of Ms. Tantaros’s computer revealed that it contained unique surveillance viruses that are not found in any mass malware.” Tantaros says that she has information that proves “a person working for Fox News was responsible for hacking [her] computer so that she could be spied upon.” The suit cites multiple examples of things Tantaros discussed in private phone conversations that soon ended up in tweets directed at her.

Filmmaker Erika Lust Brings 'Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On' Pt 2 To Netflix

“Porn today is sex education,” says Erika Lust, a Barcelona-based erotic filmmaker in the first episode of Netflix’s new docuseries, 'Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On'. A spinoff of the 2015 documentary of the same name, this new show explores sex and relationships in the Internet age. 

The six-episode series was produced by Rashida Jones, Jill Bauer, and Ronna Gradus, the team behind the original film. At launch, the project followed a group of teenage girls entering the amateur porn business in Miami. In the new episodes, they expand their content focus from porn into all aspects of human sexuality online. Vogue explains: "One episode revolves around a cam girl and her intimate relationship with one of her customers, whom she’s never met in real life. One chapter explores the question of whether a woman can ever be empowered in the porn industry—the answer is murkier than you might believe. Another centers on a pair of female erotic filmmakers and their efforts to try and challenge the pervasive, and often aggressive, male gaze in pornography."

The producers of Hot Girls Wanted worked alongside researchers at Indiana University, in affiliation with the Kinsey Institute, to produce a first-of-its-kind study on the effects of porn use on relationships and socialization in teenagers and adults. The conclusions of their study -- which drive content throughout the episodes -- confirm that most young adults (even children) are getting most of their information from pornography. Almost 40% of teens have been exposed to porn by age 14. 

The series also explores the racism and classism that is fundamental to the porn industry -- then and now. The majority of young women participating are from poor, rural backgrounds with little hope of a future. Vogue interviews the creators of'Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On'. 

Bill O'Reilly Out At Fox News

Bill O’Reilly has been forced out of his lucrative position as a prime-time host on Fox News, the company announced on Wednesday. The ouster comes after the disclosure of multiple settlements with women, involving sexual harassment allegations against him. Even the endorsement of his good friend President Trump couldn't save O'Reilly, who now joins former Fox boss Roger Ailes in the Bad Boys Club.

His ouster -- brought about by a total loss of support among corporate advertisers and new financial SEC irregularities at Fox, based on how the settlements were reported to stockholders as salary expenses ---  brings an abrupt and embarrassing end to O'Reilly's two-decade reign as one of the most popular and influential commentators in television.

“After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel,” 21st Century Fox, Fox News’s parent company, said in a statement. The host continues to deny all allegations against him.