'So she understood me.'
Gretchen Carlson is still in awe that her story is being told on both the big and small screens.
Showtime and Blumhouse TV's The Loudest Voice and Jay Roach's Bombshell tell of how in July 2016, Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against former Fox CEO and Chairman Roger Ailes, alleging that he "sabotaged her career" because she "refused his sexual advances and complained about severe and pervasive sexual harassment." She also claimed that Ailes ended her career nine months after she allegedly refused his sexual demands from September 2015. Ailes denied the claims.
In September 2016, 21st Century Fox agreed to settle Carlson's suit, and pay her $20 million on behalf of Ailes. Per her payout, she is not allowed to speak about the suit.
At the 77th Annual Golden Globes on Sunday, Carlson was still in disbelief that Naomi Watts portrayed her in The Loudest Voice and Nicole Kidman played her in Bombshell.
"How could I know that this would play out in this way? When I came forward with my lawsuit and got fired I thought I would be sitting at home at my house crying," she told ET's Kevin Frazier. "It's so rewarding for all women because it shows that we care about this issue enough. I'm so proud of these actresses for saying they want to take on these roles and they want to do justice to this issue once and for all."
Carlson, 53, said she now has a special bond with Watts. "I've become good friends with Naomi Watts. I'm sitting with her tonight. When we met at the premiere of Loudest Voice, it was like we had been friends for years because she had studied so much about my life because she couldn't talk to me," she said. "So she understood me and she wrote a wonderful Instagram message to me afterward about my bravery and courage. I'm really looking forward to seeing her tonight."
Seeing as Carlson is not able to speak about her experience at Fox News and Ailes after her settlement, she told ET that she has now started Lift Our Voices to "eradicate non-disclosures for all women and men across the world."
"We're going to start a new movement so women are no longer silenced, handcuffed and muzzled so they can tell their own stories," she explained.
As for why she decided to take a stand against sexual harassment, Carlson said, "I did it for all women in our country, for my children and for everyone else's children because we thought we had beat this but we hadn't. But now we're going to."
Charlize Theron, who plays former Fox News host Megyn Kelly in Bombshell, also spoke to ET's Kevin Frazier on the red carpet and was pleased to hear what Carlson had to say about the movie.
"That is really nice because we have not really heard anything from her so that's lovely to hear," Theron said.
The actress admitted that she has not spoken to Kelly since the release of the film, noting, "It's hard for all of these women to relive it but the importance of their story, I think they understand what that really means and the weight that it carries."
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