Former Miss America Gretchen Carlson remains very relevant in the media even after so many years of her win. She is a television commentator and the chairwoman of the Miss America board of directors. Carlson was always inclined to media production and has backed this drive with a flourishing career on television. She has worked as a host on shows like Fox & Friends, and The Early Show and has sound experience in news reporting. In addition to being a tv commentator, she is also an author; Carlson released her autobiography Getting Real in the year 2015.
Gretchen’s media presence has been plagued with tons of controversy many of which have kept her name on the lips of the general public. From sexual harassment to Miss America conflicts, Gretchen must have a series of life stories in her personal diary. These events have also led to people wanting to know more about the media personality. To find out other facts about Carlson would mean to answer some of the frequently asked questions pertaining to her career and personal life.
Who Is Gretchen Carlson?
She was born on June 21, 1966, in Anoka, Minnesota to her parents Karen Barbara and Lee Roy Carlson her father. She was raised alongside her two brothers and a sister by their Lutheran parents who also instilled in them the values of the Lutheran church. Gretchen attended Anoka High School and was popular in school for her brilliance. In 1984, she earned a valedictorian title and was also elected to be one of the Anoka Homecoming attendants.
In 1988, Carlson proceeded to contest in the Miss Minnesota beauty pageant and won. She then went on to win the Miss America title for her state. She attended Stanford University and studied organizational behavior.
Gretchen’s career started when she joined CBS News as a correspondent in the year 2000. But before then she worked for KXAS-TV in Texas as a weekend anchor and reporter. She served under the same positions at WOIO-TV in Cleveland and also for WCPO-TV, Cincinnati. Carlson started working as a co-anchor on CBS’ The Early Show in 2002 and was highly recognized for her performance on the show.
She gradually moved to TV and her career as a political reporter for WRIC_Tv in Richmond, Virginia. She became a weekend substitute host on the Fox & Friends show and was later made a weekday host co-hosting the show with Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade. After so many years with Fox & Friends, Carlson left the show and went on to host The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson. The show, however, was later canceled after Carlson left Fox News.
What Happened to Her?
Carlson’s contract with Fox News reportedly expired in 2016 and in July that same year, the former Miss America took to her Twitter page to announce that she had left Fox. On the same day she made the announcement, reports spread like wildfire that Carlson had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes, Fox News chairman. Six other women also came forward at the time to accuse the Fox News Chairman of sexually harassing them.
Carlson was all over the news following the development and she made good use of her popularity to reach out to her fans and other victims of sexual assault through live stream videos from her Twitter account. She offered support and help to victims of assault urging them to remain strong. Fox had demanded that the case be treated on closed-door mandatory arbitration according to the demands of Gretchen’s running contract with the company, but it was turned down.
After a long tussle, Roger Ailes resigned as chairman of Fox News in July 2016, and Carlson was got a compensation of $20 million.
What Is She Doing Now?
Gretchen Carlson is the chairwoman of the Board of Miss America Organization. Her tenure as chair has also been plagued with lots of controversy revolving around issues of unfair treatment and toxicity. But Carlson has kept her position. She engages in a couple of outreach and advocates for the ‘Miss You Can Do It’ pageant founded by former Miss Iowa USA, Abbey Curran in honor of young women with special needs.
Gretchen lives with her husband Casey Close and their two children in Greenwich, Connecticut.
