After an embarrassing performance on the air, a trip to an alcohol rehabilitation clinic, a relapse and arrest at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, and months of work at the Betty Ford Center, Gregg Jarrett has told the story of how he has been able to stay sober and get back to his job as an anchor at Fox News. And he claims that he couldn’t have done it without Fox News chairman Roger Ailes.
(Photo courtesy of Fox News)
In an interview with TVNewser reporter Mark Joyella, Jarrett recalled that after he appeared to slur his words during a broadcast in April 2014, he walked into a meeting with Ailes and confessed that he had a serious drinking problem. Ailes, Jarrett said, guaranteed his job and worked with Fox News staff to get him checked into a rehabilitation clinic.
When Jarrett emerged from the clinic only to relapse and get arrested shortly afterwards, Ailes hired lawyers to defend him and secured a new bed for him at the Betty Ford Center. When Jarrett emerged from the center in August, Ailes eased him back into Fox News, eventually putting him back on the air in January.
“I don’t think I’d be here today if not for Roger,” Jarrett says of Ailes, who over the years has acquired a considerably different, less forgiving reputation.
