Fox News Channel chairman and CEO Roger Ailes.
"Hes a brilliant comedian. Hes actually a very nice guy," the chairman and CEO of Fox News told THR, noting that Stewart "has a bitter view of the world."
As Jon Stewart's final Daily Show approaches, the comedian has mercilessly mocked Fox News Channel, even comparing Roger Ailes to Death. Its almost like hes daring the networks chairman and CEO to respond. Now, he has.
"Hes been after us for years. Occasionally we pay attention. We think hes funny. We never took it seriously and he never made a dent in us," Ailes told The Hollywood Reporter after being contacted on Wednesday.
The Fox News chief added: "As he faces the end of his career, hes beginning to wonder: Is this as popular as Im ever going to get? Is this as much power as Ill ever have? The one person I could never get rid of was Roger Ailes. I tried. I did everything I could. This was all a plea to his lefty friends. I think hes disappointed that he didnt accomplish that goal, and we, of course, supplied him with half of his comedy. Its just a matter of disappointment."
During his show last week, Jon Stewart showed a clip of the Ingmar Bergman movie, The Seventh Seal, only he substituted Ailes for the Death character. Ailes told THR he hadnt seen the segment, but he isnt surprised at the vitriol aimed at him.
Hes feeling unrewarded because Fox News beats him on the amount of money we make, on ratings and on popularity. Im sure its very depressing when he sits home at night and worries about it. We never did, Ailes said.
"Hes a brilliant comedian. Hes actually a very nice guy, and I saw him with his kids on the street. Hes a good father. He has a bitter view of the world and you see it embodied in how hes reacting to Fox News, equating it with death."
On an episode of his Comedy Central show this week, Stewart did his best to eviscerate Fox News yet again, but then ended the segment on an unusually serious note: Im just playing around with you guys. Your hypocrisy isnt a bug in the Fox model. Its the feature. Your job is to discredit any source of criticism that might hurt the conservative brand by angrily holding them to standards you yourselves jettisoned in your news networks mission statement. But Id be happy to listen, if you make an actual argument. See the segment below.
Ailes said he didnt take even that attack all too seriously. "You cant say that many negative things about people unless youre really unhappy about something," he said. "I actually think he doesnt dislike me. We met once or twice. I talked to him for an hour once in my office. I think hes really smart and hes got a great future."
At Fox News, perhaps? No. He cant come over here. He would depress everyone, Ailes said. I could get him a job. Not on air. As a stage-hand.
Ailes also took a jab at Stewarts nascent career as a film director that began in 2014 with Rosewater, a drama about a journalist captured in Iran. The movie made just $3.1 million worldwide.
Knowing him, hell direct movies with sort of a left-wing point of view, and Americas a terrible country, said Ailes. Somebody needs to tell him that 90 percent of what Hollywood puts out already does that. Hes going to have to find another niche.
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