Short skirts were required and pants were banned." Both involve Margot Robbie, whose role is small here but pivotal and terrific. And while the film notes that there are a lot of similarities between Bombshell and real life, certain parts of the film were fabricated, including one of its lead characters. This is one of those situations where you have to let Charlize and other female producers lead the way. Kayla is devastated that Ailes pressured her, that she gave in to the pressure, and that people know about it, and when Kelly asks Kayla to come forward, Megyn uses that empathy tool that journalists often use to elicit cooperation. Kayla makes the case that she'd be great on camera, and the Fox CEO responds by suggesting she prove her determination. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. The film stars Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly, Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, and Margot Robbie as fictional news producer Kayla Pospisil. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AI Singers Are Unnervingly Good and Already Ubiquitous, Concertgoer Allegedly Orgasms While L.A. Philharmonic Plays Tchaikovskys 5th, Melanie Lynskey, Seth Meyers, and More Support WGA Amid Negotiations. Rudy Giuliani (yes, he even weaseled his way into the Ailes scandal) is portrayed by actor Richard Kind. As IndieWire notes, Charlize Theron alluded during anEllen DeGeneres Showappearance to Kayla being an amalgamation of real stories: "We used a lot of source material in finding the story and also spoke to a lot of women who were part of the story. "Bombshell" is a who's who of famous faces, including Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange")as Rupert Murdoch, Allison Janney asAiles' legal counsel Susan Estrich, and Connie Britton ("Nashville") as Ailes'wife, Beth. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Why is Fox News being sued again over alleged sexual harassment? For Bombshell, a trio of A-listersNicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, and Margot Robbiewere Fox-ified. Likewise with Kayla: Her willingness to look the other way creates this dynamic, and she realizes at the end that it affects herself. During the discussion, Kelly went on to say that she found the scene to be counterproductive in regards to the #MeToo movement overall, hinting that it was inaccurate about the women's relationship because a man wrote it. The abuse here is psychological. Gretchen Carlson, former Fox News anchor. Fiction affords a kind of freedom. Left: Elizabeth Ailes. Both women are not real people being portrayed in the film, as Charlize Theron's Megyn. Additionally, in a Time magazine article about "Bombshell," it's said that Ailes' personality was overwhelming and intimidating, helping to create a climate in which his employess worked in a constant state of fear. In an interview with Roach, Randolph, and producer Michelle Graham, Graham highlighted that Ailes would isolate the women from one another and pit them against each other. Ailes resigned in 2016 and died a year later at the age of 77. She brings none of the baggage that comes with a real existence. He listens for a moment. Right: Alanna Ubach in. "Her being ideologically ferventlike a dedicated Republican, but a little sexually fluid and utterly morally sincere, that's based more on women in my life. Such scenes were drawn from Kelly's book, as well as Gabriel Sherman's 2014 Ailes biography "The Loudest Voice in the Room" and Sarah Ellison's 2016 expose for Vanity Fair, Randolph says. -Smart Writers & Smart Content & Smart Readers-mclennan county indictments 2020 Geral mclennan county indictments 2020. Veteran actor Malcolm McDowell portrays Rupert Murdoch, the media tycoon at the top of a worldwide empire. In some ways, thats a productive thing. Film critic Manohla Dargis explored this in her New York Times review, writing, "[It's] about female employees who worked for a conservative political force who institutionalized the harassment of women. Many of them embody familiar Fox News talents. Kayla Pospisil, the ambitious young evangelical millennial producer (played by Margot Robbie) who works for Carlsons show when she is introduced, is a composite character invented for the movie. Nicole Kidman stars as Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News anchor who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes. The last three years are ones of backward motion so accelerated that sometimes I wake up nauseous and seasick. (Though whether Pirro confronted Megyn Kelly at a vending machine and asked her to do the same, as in the movie, is less clear.) Margot Robbie plays a fictitious news producer named Kayla Pospisil. The scene is intimate. And the lead women weren't the only actors who spent hours in the makeup chair. A timeline of Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber, and Selena Gomezs love triangle. "I wanted to show the bystander narrative. Most recently, she was the Managing Editor at Coveteur, where she oversaw the sites day-to-day editorial operations. Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. Within the first few mom, My expectations for this years Oscar Awards were low. That freedom, however, also allows a story about sexual harassment to wander, at times, into the realm of the fanciful. The film does an excellent job at chronicling the way Gretchen Carlson took full control of the situation by filing a lawsuit against Ailes after an extended period of inappropriate behavior at Fox News. Following her confrontation with Wilson, she rejoined Fox News on "Fox and Friends." Photo illustration by Slate. Through her own account of life working with Ailes, we see a story that was not shown in "Bombshell." With Barry on the loose, all Gene, Fuches, Hank, and Sally can do is crumble as they wait to see who hes coming for first. Camerota, in between inappropriate advances from Ailes, was promoted and began anchoring shortly after joining Fox News. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Connie Britton takes on the role of Beth Ailes, Roger Ailes's wife. Charlize Theron plays Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly in Bombshell, and the movie opens as she is preparing to host a 2015 Republican presidential primary debate that would go on to cause a monthslong feud between her and future President Donald Trump. Pospisil asked the fictional Kelly if she ever wondered what her public silence following her own harassment incidents meant to the women who came after her. The Bombshell Cast Looks Just Like Their Real-Life Counterparts, What to Know About 'The Hunger Games' Prequel. What are you, crazy?' I dont know. Roger Ailes attempted to force himself on Kelly three times early in her career, and she rebuked him. .css-o05pt{display:block;font-family:Didot,Didot-fallback,Georgia,Times,serif;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:0rem;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-shadow:0 0 0 #000,0 0 0.01em transparent;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-o05pt:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-o05pt{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.25rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-o05pt{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-o05pt{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-o05pt{font-size:1.39461rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}What to Know About 'The Hunger Games' Prequel, The True Story Behind Love & Death's Ax Murder, Elizabeth Olsen Isn't Here to Judge Anyone, Here's Kate & Will in 'The Crown' Season 6, 'And Just Like That' Season 2 Is Back This June, Succession's 'Quiet Luxury' Is Actually Attainable, List of Yellowjackets Season 2 Fan Theories. Throughout the film, Kayla must grapple with the fact that a man with a lot of power, a person whos the driving force behind a corporation she idolizes, sexually assaulted her. While not allowed to speak on the record about their experience, women instead .css-umdwtv{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:.0625rem;text-decoration-color:#FF3A30;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:background 0.4s;transition:background 0.4s;background:linear-gradient(#ffffff, #ffffff 50%, #d5dbe3 50%, #d5dbe3);-webkit-background-size:100% 200%;background-size:100% 200%;}.css-umdwtv:hover{color:#000000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;-webkit-background-position:100% 100%;background-position:100% 100%;}shared information anonymously, allowing filmmakers the ability to create a character out of their shared experiences. Right: Malcolm McDowell. It certainly was for me in the room. Though Margot couldn't copy the mannerisms, speech patterns, and looks for her character like Charlize and Nicole could, she's still getting a lot of attention for her part in Bombshell. Left to right, Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly, Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson and Margot Robbie as Kayla Pospisil in "Bombshell." (Courtesy Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/SMPSP) This article is more than . I wanted the breathing to be unmistakably monstrous.. Robbie plays Kayla Pospisil, a fictional composite. But in reality, there is no singular person that the Pospisil character is based on. But realistically, that would have been a suicide mission for me and my career.. And if you're wondering how real life measures up to the facts, in this case, I have some bad news: Pospisil is fictionalized, a character made up specifically for the movie, albeit one inspired by real women. The short answer is no one person. ", 'You could do worse, right?' I often have a good sense of what transpired during those two hours, give or take, and dont re, Latines love entertainment. Heres how to watch them host the events red carpet, together with Derek Blasberg and Emma Chamberlain. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sort of! That makes sense, considering Kayla Pospisil isn't a real person, but rather a composite character based on not one but multiple very real people. She pulls the dress up higher, her hands trembling, until her underwear is exposed. Right: Elisabeth Rohm. My television career combusted, and I couldn't get a job for over a year come after me. Roach, the Emmy-winning writer-director behind Recount (2008) and Game Change (2012), and screenwriter Charles Randolph acknowledge the optics of taking on a project like Bombshell, particularly in an era when female filmmakers are still underrepresented in Hollywood. Its also true that there was longstanding tension between the brothers and Ailes, which is part of why they supported quickly conducting an internal investigation at Fox News. Left: Nancy Erika Smith. The scene between Kayla and Ailes is what roots the film as it explores the legal battle that led to Ailess ouster from the network. Heres how it works. In "Bombshell," all the leading women are dressed in skirts, dresses and high heels. Some of them were still working at Fox. In April 2017, The New York Times reported that Wendy Walsh claimed she was not given a job at the network as a result of turning down sexual advances from then-host Bill O'Reilly. Post-twirl, Ailes tells Robbies character to hike up her minidress higher and higher. All the show tunes! Megyn Kelly also had no obligation to sacrifice her career to report Roger Ailes. It's Anchor Barbie," quips Jess. Kellys decision to come forward about the harassment she faced toward the beginning of her time at the company was similarly complicated and perhaps not as heroic as Bombshell makes it out to be: As Ailes biographer and former New York magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman wrote: Carlsons lawsuit presented an opportunity. Left: Roger Ailes. The Slate Group LLC. It is, like the cable-news network that is its subject and its setting, shiny and hectic. Charles and I didnt do anything without checking with her and our women producers and studio execs., Based on Brandts (and later, Roachs) extensive script research which involved reading Ailess accusers court affidavits about the sexual misconduct that they were subjected to at Fox and interviewing female former Fox News employees the filmmakers strenuously avoided making Ailes into a one-note, mustache-twirling villain. As for Ailes hard-to-miss derogatory comment about James in the film (Tell me that mouth hasnt sucked a cock), it supposedly really happened, though a Fox spokesman denied it. But Kayla Pospisil is not. Ailes was in charge of what she said on air, and would frequently berate her for her opinions. Right: Spencer Garrett. She and another fictional character, a production assistant named Jess Carr (Kate McKinnon), drink too much after work and end up spending the night together. Watch the full trailer above. We hear his breathing grow increasingly, discomfitingly labored. Kayla is one of three women at Bombshells center; the other two are Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) and Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman). Visit our corporate site. John Lithgow, who plays Roger Ailes in Bombshell, had prosthetics applied to adjust his nose, cheeks, neck, hairline, and earlobes. She left the network last year and reportedly pressured women at work to support Roger Ailes amidst sexual harassment allegations, according to Vox. Every once in a while, the backward motion will hit a snag Roger Ailes exit from Fox News, Trumps impeachment but it returns to its regular pace the following day. Megyn Kelly, and Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly. At the center of Bombshell (opening Dec. 20) are Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), and Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), all news anchors or producers at Fox News . Perhaps one of the most infamous moments in the film arrives when Megyn Kelly isquestioning then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2015 on Fox News. About two-thirds of the way through the ripped-from-the-headlines drama, Bombshells cringiest scene unfolds: a sequence of events that begins with the words Stand up and give me a twirl and culminates in humiliation. The new movie Bombshell tells the story of how the women of Fox News brought down the networks infamous CEO, Roger Ailes, but it does so by filling the film with a mix of characters who are based on real figures and others who have no one real-life counterpart. The software that cloned Drake and the Weeknds voices is easy to useand impossible to shut down. Bombshell portrays him as a complex character: a Machiavellian, tantrum-prone blob with a quiet but pronounced paternal streak that he could weaponize to sexually exploit female employees. Get to know who's who in the cast before you watch the movie in theaters. For example, Anne Ramsay (Mad About You) plays news anchor Greta Van Susteren. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Her other panelists labeled her as a support system during the tumultuous time in real life. Photos by Hilary Bronwyn Gayle SMPSP/Lionsgate and Kevin Hagen/Getty Images. Alanna Ubach (Coco, Legally Blonde) also makes a cameo as Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who also defended Ailes. The benefit of Cat Person was that those discussions could be had about people who did not exist. More recently, The Guardian reported in July 2020 on new allegations of sexual abuse and assault against former national correspondent Ed Henry and a few other big Fox personalities. There isn't an Oscars category for casting directors, but whoever was in charge of assembling the cast of Bombshell deserves some type of award. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba. While it doesn't cover everything, "Bombshell" does a good job of addressing events that otherwise get overshadowed, and the film does still serve as an important beacon of hope for the wider movement. For years, we have been the top moviegoers even though the films we watch rarely reflect our communities. Gretchen Carlson, and Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson. All due respect, but Obama was fucking wrong. She is the one whose arc, in the film, bends the most sharply. Previously, she was an editor at Marie Claire, where she wrote and edited culture, politics, and lifestyle stories ranging from op-eds to profiles to ambitious packages. Aileshis initial warmth growing colder as he issues commandsasks her to hike up the bottom of her dress. Ashley Greene (Twilight) makes an appearance as Abby Huntsman, a former Fox & Friends co-host who moved on to The View. With a clean updo, thick eyeliner, and a stern smile, she's almost entirely transformed into the former Fox News anchor. Yes and no. They managed, nevertheless, to continue what was obviously a successful relationship together at Fox News. The movie is also faithful in its depiction of the relationship between Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, who kicked off Ailes eventual ouster by publicly accusing him of sexual harassment: The two were collegial but not friends. Lizzy Caplan Would Return for One More Season of. Industry professionals are tweeting their support of guild members. Rupert Murdoch, and Malcolm McDowell as Rupert Murdoch. Roger Ailes is eventually forced to resign from his position at Fox News in July 2017, and dies the following year. There was no Kayla Pospisil, but Margot Robbie's character represents many others. The "Saturday Night Live" favorite is a scene-stealer as Kayla's savvy co-worker Jess Carr, a closeted lesbian and liberal who has complicated feelings about working at a network that preaches against her values and lifestyle. The black room and the employing of detectives to dig up dirt was real, too. But in terms of the sexual assault case that drives Pospisil's arc forward, the character was created after filmmakers interviewed a number of Fox News staffers who were bound by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). We learn that this is a rule enforced by Ailes and it was a bigger issue than explored in the film. (L to R) Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie play Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson, and Kayla Pospisil, respectively. The number of women directors in Hollywood is so small, its such an embarrassing statistic, he recalls. Rattled, she later relays the incident to Roger, wondering aloud whether it was nerves or if the man tampered with her drink. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. Randolph highlighted his various interviews with victims who wished to share their stories, noting that through this, he was able to create the character of Kayla to represent them in a fictional but authentic way. This piece takes what we know about Ailes from "Bombshell" and expands on it, giving us further understanding of what it was like for these women to work under Ailes and experience his manipulative and abusive behavioral streak. Ailes, played by John Lithgow, breathes heavily. When it came time to go, Ailes did agree to a noncompete clause, and indeed didnt get his wish to say goodbye and address the newsroom along with Rupert Murdoch, who did that on his own, locking Ailes out unceremoniously. Get ready to turn that frown upside down. The writer Jill Filipovic explained the scenes power like this: Reading about sexual harassment dulls it. This fabricated moment was addressed in the Kelly panel by former "Fox News Live" associate producer Julie Zann: "This is shameful because it is unfactual it is victim shaming this is sending the wrong message.". Portrayed in "Bombshell" by Nazanin Boniadi, Rudi Bakhtiar was a Fox News journalist who came out with allegations against Brian Wilson (via New York), the former Fox News Washington bureau chief. As they say, it takes a village, and here, theres the clear villain in Roger Ailes, but theres the secretary who sent the young women into Ailes office fully aware of what was happening (the secretary is also singled out in the Showtime series); theres Ailes wife, Beth (Connie Britton), who looked the other way when she knew better; there are all the women like Megyn Kelly who experienced the worst ordeals of their lives and knowingly allowed it to happen to the women that came after them in order to protect their own careers; and there are the husbands and the boyfriends, who knew what happening but remained silent, too, because they didnt want to rock the boat, or endanger a salary. In short, Kayla Pospisil isn't based on a singular woman, but rather the accounts of several sexual assault victims. The other terrific scene, which illustrates whats really the thesis of the film, is a conversation between Kayla and Therons Megyn Kelly. The initial allegation of misconduct came from a Ailes biography in 2014, "The Loudest Voice in the Room" by Gabriel Sherman. While Huddy struggled for a while following her departure from Fox News, she is now a successful talk radio host and podcaster. Some of them really didnt want their names out there.". Starting with the makeup that transformed Theron into Kelly, the films pleasures and its indictments come in large part through its painstaking re-creations of real-life people. "Each hair is hand-tied one by one," hairstylist Anne Morgan told the Washington Post, explaining the level of care and labor that went into them. The drama (in theaters now)goes behind the scenes at Fox News in 2016. Ailes did have friends and allies, too, including Rudy Giuliani (played by Richard Kind in the movie) and his lawyer, Susan Estrich (played by Allison Janney), despite her background as a staunch feminist. On her first day on The O'Reilly Factor, Kayla Pospisil meets fellow female staffer Jess Carr, and the two sleep together. November 23, 2022 by by She really had been speaking to her attorneys far in advance of filing the actual lawsuitin New Jersey and against Ailes personally, rather than the company, to avoid arbitrationand its also true that she had started recording her conversations with Ailes in the year or so leading up to her firing. There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now. Right: Nazanin Boniadi. He indeed occupied a second-floor suite at the News Corp. headquarters in New York City with a camera outside his door. Privacy Policy and did kayla pospisil sleep with roger.
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