Gretchen Carlson

So there's been great strides, but with all the people who reach out to me, I still say it's such a personal decision to come forward because you will probably be penalized. You probably will be fired. You probably won't work in your chosen profession ever again. And so it's a huge risk. And most people can't afford, quite honestly, to do that. And so they just suck it up and they endure.

So there's been great strides, but with all the people who reach out to me, I still say it's such a personal decision to come forward because you will probably be penalized. You probably will be fired. You probably won't work in your chosen profession ever again. And so it's a huge risk. And most people can't afford, quite honestly, to do that. And so they just suck it up and they endure.

And that's what keeps this vicious cycle going, along with making sure that it's all secret, right? So what I'm trying to do with the work at Lift Our Voices is normalize this enough that where more and more women come forward, the more that we make it not such a one-off situation, the more that we can change the hearts and minds of people who run companies to not penalize people who come forward.

And that's what keeps this vicious cycle going, along with making sure that it's all secret, right? So what I'm trying to do with the work at Lift Our Voices is normalize this enough that where more and more women come forward, the more that we make it not such a one-off situation, the more that we can change the hearts and minds of people who run companies to not penalize people who come forward.

It's a tangled web to fix, but... Currently, women are probably still going to be punished.

It's a tangled web to fix, but... Currently, women are probably still going to be punished.

Yeah, and just to be clear, I had been preparing my lawsuit for months and months and months before they fired me. Honestly, my legal team never thought they were going to fire me because it was such an act of alleged retaliation then, right? It made it so crystal clear that I had done nothing wrong. And so they were shocked when they fired me.

Yeah, and just to be clear, I had been preparing my lawsuit for months and months and months before they fired me. Honestly, my legal team never thought they were going to fire me because it was such an act of alleged retaliation then, right? It made it so crystal clear that I had done nothing wrong. And so they were shocked when they fired me.

So I don't want to give the implication that they fired me and then I hurriedly put together a lawsuit. No, this was something that I had going on behind the scenes for quite some time. But back to my family, yes, it's hard on a marriage. It's not like you come home from work every day and say to your partner, hey, this is what's happened to me at work.

So I don't want to give the implication that they fired me and then I hurriedly put together a lawsuit. No, this was something that I had going on behind the scenes for quite some time. But back to my family, yes, it's hard on a marriage. It's not like you come home from work every day and say to your partner, hey, this is what's happened to me at work.

It's hard to come home to your husband and say, this is what another man is saying to me or doing to me. So there's that. My children were, as I said, in middle school, so a very vulnerable age of acceptance already being difficult, friendships being fractured, and they were my paramount concern. But I'll start with my parents, who I'm still blessed to have in my life.

It's hard to come home to your husband and say, this is what another man is saying to me or doing to me. So there's that. My children were, as I said, in middle school, so a very vulnerable age of acceptance already being difficult, friendships being fractured, and they were my paramount concern. But I'll start with my parents, who I'm still blessed to have in my life.

I grew up in a small town in Minnesota and Minnesotans are very nice people, very altruistic people. They don't really sue a lot of people. And so I think it took my parents a long time to get to the point where they actually were supportive of what I was going to do. And when they finally got to that place, I can still remember being on the phone with both of them.

I grew up in a small town in Minnesota and Minnesotans are very nice people, very altruistic people. They don't really sue a lot of people. And so I think it took my parents a long time to get to the point where they actually were supportive of what I was going to do. And when they finally got to that place, I can still remember being on the phone with both of them.

And we were all very emotional. And they finally said that they wanted me to do what I felt I needed to do. And that was a big turning point for me because no matter how old you get, you still want the blessing of your parents. So that was number one.

And we were all very emotional. And they finally said that they wanted me to do what I felt I needed to do. And that was a big turning point for me because no matter how old you get, you still want the blessing of your parents. So that was number one.

Number two, as I said earlier, looking in the eyes of my children, if we couldn't accomplish just to make this better for my generation, then what about my kids? If I don't do this, then they're going to still be going through this. And I didn't tell them until the night before because it had to be so secretive. I couldn't get out what I was doing.

Number two, as I said earlier, looking in the eyes of my children, if we couldn't accomplish just to make this better for my generation, then what about my kids? If I don't do this, then they're going to still be going through this. And I didn't tell them until the night before because it had to be so secretive. I couldn't get out what I was doing.

I couldn't give them the upper advantage of knowing what I was going to be doing.

I couldn't give them the upper advantage of knowing what I was going to be doing.