“The Loudest Voice in the Room,” Gabriel Sherman’s hotly anticipated unauthorized biography of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, won’t hit shelves until Jan. 21, but the author has given readers a taste with an excerpt posted online late Wednesday on his home publication, New York Magazine.
Sherman did not have direct access to Ailes and Fox News has denied the allegations in the book, and said that its contents were not fact-checked with the network. However, he conducted over 614 interviews with other individuals in connection to Ailes for the biography.
TheWrap pulled 9 of the top quotes from Sherman’s interviews for the explosive new book:
Also read: Roger Ailes Biography: 5 Explosive Allegations From Gabe Sherman’s Tell-All
On eminent domain:
“They’re starting to try and tell you how much glass you can have in your window, what color you can paint your house, and they’re saying, well, ‘You can’t cut down any trees.’ ”
“God made trees so you can build houses and have baseball bats.”
“They’re going around to old ladies and telling them if they have a mud puddle they’re in a wetland and stealing their farm and stuff.”
On Transparency:
“What are you trying to hide from me?” Ailes said. “I own the newspaper.”
Also read: Fox News Denies Roger Ailes’ Sexist, Racist, Volatile Behavior Detailed in New Biography
On elections:
“I’ll see you out of office! … I’ve never lost a campaign I’ve been involved with!”
On reading the warning signs:
“You have no fucking idea what you’ve done! … You have no idea what you’re up against. If you want a war, you’ll have a battle, but it won’t be a long battle.”
“Don’t be naive about these things. I will destroy your life.”
Also read: The Year in Cable News: Fox News Ends Another Contentious Year at the Top
On reasonable safety measures:
“I let the dog out of the car when we come here. The dog gets out first. He’s trained to patrol the whole grounds and report back before we get out.”
On land acquisition:
“That’s up for sale … I could buy it in a heartbeat. You know why I’m interested?”
“I hear a group of Chinese investors are looking. I’m not going to have some Chinese investors set up a missile silo right across from West Point.”
Also read: Roger Ailes Signs 4-Year Deal to Run Fox News, Stations
On the “War On Christmas”:
“There’s no Christ child on the lawn at Christmastime! … They have all this fucking Kwanzaa stuff, they have this Hanukkah shit, and you can’t even get Jesus! They think it’s illegal. You can’t show any flags. So I’m not sending our kid there.”
On Fashion:
“Tell him not to wear a hoodie. It’s creepy.”
On keeping things in perspective:
“I have 2,000 employees at Fox, yet this small newspaper is the cause of all my headaches … I’m sick of the drama in this office.”