
The recent media coverage of Roger Ailes' firing of his PR chief Brian Lewis has rattled the Fox News CEO, according to New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman.
Sherman, who has written a book about the the Fox News chief and the rise of his network, dissected the surprise firing of one of his most trusted executives on Wednesday, writing that Lewis was the only person on the network who challenged Ailes. He detailed the growing rift between the two. Donald Trump later railed against Sherman's piece, which he called "total bullshit." Now, Sherman has suggested that that may have been Ailes talking. He tweeted:
Trump wasn't the only one tweeting about Sherman. Media Matters counted eight different Fox News hosts and staffers who railed against him in the space of two hours. As HuffPost's Michael Calderone wrote, it was a seemingly coordinated effort to discredit Lewis and Sherman of the sort that Lewis himself might have masterminded before he was let go.
Sherman, of course, is no stranger to attacks over his work about Fox News. Last year, Ailes commissioned the writing of his biography, which was widely believed to be a response to Sherman's book. Sherman also had his subscription to his local newspaper — which is owned by Ailes — canceled. The reason, he said he was told, was his upcoming book.