Former Fox News executive Bill Shine will serve as the new assistant to President Donald Trump and the deputy chief of staff for communications, according to a White House announcement Thursday.
Shine, who served as c0-president at Fox News, left the cable channel in May 2017 amid concerns about how he handled sexual harassment complaints at the network. He was named in several lawsuits and allegations concerning sexual harassment and racial discrimination at Fox, Vox.com reported. Shine has denied any wrongdoing.
At issue was alleged misconduct by ousted network chair Roger Ailes and former host Bill O’Reilly. Shine was co-president of Fox News when its parent company, 21st Century Fox, paid settlements to women who raised allegations of sexual harassment, Vox.com reported.
Shine, 54, had met with Trump in recent weeks to discuss taking the position, the New York Times reported in June.
The White House is expecting “blowback for appointing someone so closely tied to Mr. Ailes and the culture of harassment toward women at Fox News,” the Times said.
The White House announcement pointed to Shine’s “two decades of television programming, communications and management.”
Shine faces a tough gig at the White House. Former communications director Hope Hicksleft in March. Mike Dubke lasted about three months and Anthony Scaramucci stayed on for about 10 days, according to a published reports.
Back in 2017, Sean Hannity suggested he would leave if Shine, a longtime friend at Fox, was not supported by network executives, Deadline Hollywood reported.
“Sean Hannity might walk out over Shine, a long-time friend," the outlet said. "Shine has been named in a number of related legal actions and accusations since being tapped by Rupert Murdoch last August to take over the co-presidency of the outlet with Jack Abernethy. Since then, Shine has been accused of allowing a culture of sexual harassment and bullying to exist at FNC when Ailes was in charge.”
