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Fox News denies report Shepard Smith demoted for asking to come out [View all]
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/la-et-st-fox-news-denies-shepard-smith-demoted-at-fox-news-coming-out-20140430,0,4761851.storyFox News is denying allegations that anchor Shepard Smith was demoted after approaching network chief Roger Ailes about the possibility of publicly coming out as gay.
In a story published Wednesday by Gawker, the New York-based news and gossip site, the anchor attended Ailes' annual Fourth of July picnic with a colleague said to be his boyfriend. According to Gawker, around the same time Smith was also renegotiating his contract with the network and had asked Ailes for the OK to publicly acknowledge his sexuality.
Concerned that their audience was "not ready for a gay anchor," Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming, allegedly convened a meeting of top-level executives and orchestrated Smith's move from "The Fox Report" at 7 p.m. to "Shepard Smith Reporting" at 3 p.m., according to the Gawker story.
On Wednesday afternoon, Fox News strenuously denounced the Gawker account.
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