Roger Ailes 'filmed worker dancing in bra, met her for hotel romps and sexually harassed her for 20 years before Fox News paid her $3.15m in hush money

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A Fox News employee who claims she was sexually harassed by Roger Ailes for two decades is making shocking allegations about the disgraced television executive's behavior, and the lengths the network went to in order to protect their leader.

Laurie Luhn spoke with Daily Intelligencer about her relationship with Ailes, and how her willingness to perform the sexual acts he demanded of her resulted in a job at Fox News and multiple promotions before ultimately causing her to suffer a mental breakdown.

It was after that breakdown that Luhn, then an event planner for Fox News, decided to tell the network about what she alleges was 20 years of sexual harassment at the hands of Ailes.

The network quickly responded by giving Luhn a $3.15 million payout, and making her sign an 'extensive nondisclosure provisions' that reporter Gabriel Sherman saw during the interview.

Luhn made the decision to go public despite the terms of her settlement after Gretchen Carlson filed her lawsuit against Ailes, first reaching out to the lawyers conducting an internal investigation at the network and then granting her first interview.

'It was psychological torture,' said Luhn of the anguish caused as a result of Ailes' alleged harassment.

As for Ailes himself, she simply said: 'He’s a predator.'

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Laurie Luhn (pictured with journalist Bill Hemmer in a previous shot) spoke out in an interview about her relationship with Roger Ailes and said he sexually harassed her for 20 years

Luhn says in the interview that she met Ailes in 1988 while working in the accounting department for the Bush campaign at their Washington DC headquarters.

She was 28 at the time and made a point of introducing herself to Ailes once day, saying she wanted to go into political communications like him, and days later he allegedly urged her to call him if she ever had any questions.

Luhn claims she made her first call to Ailes in 1990 when she was in danger of losing her job, and he told her to meet him at his DC office.

Ailes told Luhn he did not have a position for her, she claims, and then asked her a series of personal questions before inquiring if she could give him a ride to the airport.

Luhn says in the interview that she met Ailes (pictured in a file photo) in 1988 when she was 28 years old and told him she wanted to go into political communications like him

They stopped for food first said Luhn, and she then took Ailes to catch his flight.

'We pull up and I say, "Thank you so much for dinner." He leans over and slips me the tongue and kisses me and hands me a wad of cash,' said Luhn, who had told Ailes she was struggling financially at the time. 

'Here's to help you pay some bills," he said. It was maybe $200 or $300.'

Luhn was given some work by Ailes soon after that. She says he paid her $500 a month and allegedly required her to file Freedom of Information acts on men including Paul Manafort, and Roger Stone, who are both currently working for the Donald Trump campaign.

Then, on January 16, 1991, Luhn alleges that Ailes had her meet him at his hotel suite wearing a garter and pair of stockings he had asked her to buy and dance for him, which he filmed with a video camera.

'Laurie, if you're gonna be my girl, my eyes and ears, if you are going to be someone I can depend on in Washington, my spy, come on, dance for me,' Ailes said to Luhn according to her claims, before then asking her to kneel in front of him and placing his hands on her temples.

That is when Luhn claims Ailes began to speak in a trance-like voice, saying: 'Tell me you will do what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it. At any time, at any place when I call. No matter where I call you, no matter where you are. Do you understand? You will follow orders. If I tell you to put on your uniform, what are you gonna do, Laurie? WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO, LAURIE?'

After a brief pause he changed his tone, with Luhn claiming that Ailes then said: 'What are you, Laurie? Are you Roger's whore? Are you Roger's spy? Come over here.' 

Luhn claims she then performed oral sex on Ailes at his request, and that he later showed her the video he made of her dancing, telling her: 'I am going to put it in a safe-deposit box just so we understand each other.'

Five years later the harassment became more frequent claims Luhn, who secured a job working on a public affairs program that was airing on a new cable network - Fox News.

Ailes helped get her in the door, and Luhn said she loved her job with the network. 

The visits to hotels to meet Ailes for sex continued claims Luhn, but became a problem when her co-workers in the DC office began to question her frequent trips to New York City for work.

'No one knew what the heck she did,' said one former colleague. 'She was a "protected person" and left alone.'

The trips eventually led to problems with her boss in DC, something Luhn claims Ailes dealt with by calling her to New York and telling her she was being promoted.

After Ailes gave her the news she was told to call her boss from the CEO's extension, to make it clear that she was being protected by the network.

Luhn claims Ailes then told her: 'Now, remember, you’re Doris Day. Go put your uniform on, get over to the DoubleTree, and thank me for this.' 

With her new promotion came new demands by Ailes according to Luhn, who claimed she had to engage in sadomasochistic sex with another woman while Ailes took photos and starting in 2006 engage in phone sex with Ailes from her office.

He stopped with the hotel sessions around this time, she claims, and gave her a new task.

'You’re going to find me Roger’s Angels. You’re going to find me whores,' Ailes allegedly said to Luhn.

It had been 18 years since she first introduced herself to Ailes at this point and Luhn said she was suffering emotionally and then had a mental breakdown.

She was kept under Ailes' watchful eye after that, she claims, and he monitored all her correspondence while also lashing out when he learned she was taking medication for her anxiety.

'Don’t take pills, and don’t you ever tell that doctor about us!' Luhan said Ailes told her, referring to the psychiatrist who prescribed the drugs.

'His whole deal was they can never prove anything about you and me unless you say something. He said that to me for 20 years. Why do you think I got so messed up?'

Luhn left New York eventually and spent time in California and then her home state of Texas while remaining on the payroll at Fox News.

Then, sometime in late 2010 or early 2011 she wrote a letter to a Fox News lawyer detailing the 20 years of sexual harassment she experienced at the hands of Ailes.

She signed a $3.15 million settlement in June 2011 and agreed to never speak about what happened - until she learned of Carlson's lawsuit.

The legal and financial risks are big, but Luhn said: 'The truth shall set you free. Nothing else matters.' 

Her decision to break her silence could have been part of the reason Fox News and Ailes made the decision to part ways, with the disgraced CEO still managing to walk away with a $40 million settlement. 

Fox News did not respond to a request for comment.