Gretchen Carlson Harassment Documentary Debuts on Lifetime Jan. 14

The documentary special Gretchen Carlson: Breaking the Silence, which tells stories of sexual harassment around the country, airs on Lifetime Jan. 14. Carlson was a Fox News anchor who sued Roger Ailes, former CEO and chairman of Fox News, for sexual harassment.

Carlson focuses on what she calls the “everywoman” in the special, which appears as part of Lifetime’s Justice for Women block. Carlson has a production deal with A+E Originals to produce three documentary specials. This is the first.

McDonald’s gets a close-up in the special as three employees share their experiences with harassment in the workplace. A TV network too is examined, as the case of Karla Amezola, former anchor at Estrella TV, discusses being terminated after complaining about harassment.

Carlson also details her own story with Fox News, and the toll it took on her and her family.

Ailes died in 2017.

Lifetime shook things up with the documentary special Surviving R. Kelly, which premiered Jan. 3. “They wanted my documentary to be on the coattails of that,” Carlson told B&C. “They’re hoping similar changes come out of mine.”

Steve Ascher, Kristy Sabat, Shoshana Guy, Liz Gateley and Gretchen Carlson are executive producers for A+E Originals. Executive producers for Lifetime are Gena McCarthy and Brie Miranda Bryant.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.