Former Fox Host Greta Van Susteren Is Regretful She Didn't Believe Gretchen Carlson's Sexual Harassment Allegations

Greta Van Susteren

Gretchen Carlson

Greta Van Susteren is regretful that she didn't believe Gretchen Carlson's claim of sexual harassment against former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.

Following her departure from the network on Tuesday, the longtime On the Record host no longer defends Ailes after he quit the network July 21 amid Carlson's sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against the former CEO.

"I read Geraldo's FB post in which he said he regretted not believing Gretchen Carlson's claim of sexual harassment. We all regret it – I made my regret self evident in my GretaWire posting about 3 weeks ago which ended with this: 'Gretchen, you go girl.' That said it all," Susteren, 62, penned in a Facebook post Friday.

"It is indeed true, when I read the complaint written by lawyers – I never spoke to Gretchen as she was long gone from Fox – I found it inconsistent with what was my experience and information at the Fox News Channel, admittedly working 200 miles from the 'scene of the crimes.' It was hidden from all of us," the post continued.



Though Susteren and Geraldo Rivera initially defended the Fox head and were skeptical of Carlson's claims – Rivera posted a lengthy apologetic note to Facebook – the two news personalities have each publicly shared their remorse for not believing her.

"But I have regrets beyond Geraldo's and beyond not believing a civil complaint written by lawyers," the 14-year Fox employee continued in her public post. "I regret that Roger Ailes was not supervised by those in a public corporation who had the duty to supervise him. This included his seniors, the CFO's of both Fox News Channel and 21CF (and its predecessor NewsCorp), the Board of Directors and what I assume this public corporation had, outside auditors. Checks written that were suspicious should have been spotted."


In early July, Susteren shared her support and defense of Ailes and cited Carlson's claims as those of a bitter employee.

"Of course, the first thing that occurred to me is that, unfortunately, we have a disgruntled employee, a colleague," she told PEOPLE.

"People come to me because I've been there so long," Susteren saif. "That's why this doesn't have any ring of truth to me. I would have heard it. People don't keep things silent."

On Tuesday, PEOPLE confirmed that former Fox News host Carlson reached a settlement with the network and is expected to receive $20 million.