Fox News Employees to Meet U.K. Lawmakers to Protest Sky Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Fox News insiders are set to meet U.K. lawmakers next week to protest 21st Century Fox Inc.’s takeover of pay-TV broadcaster Sky Plc.

Fox News anchor Kelly Wright, who is suing the network for racial discrimination, and former Roger Ailes protege Joe Lindsley will brief lawmakers at the Houses of Parliament on Monday, campaigning group Avaaz said on its website on Wednesday.

The intervention comes as U.K. regulators continue to assess whether the 11.7 billion-pound ($15.4 billion) deal should go ahead. Revelations of sexual and racial harassment at Fox News risk marring the bid’s progress, as the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority weighs whether corporate governance failings in Rupert Murdoch’s media empire are relevant to the Sky merger.

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer representing several claimants who have brought harassment suits against Fox News, will also speak at a separate event at London’s University of Westminster, Avaaz said.

“We’re ramping up the pressure again by dragging skeletons out of Murdoch’s closet, just as the investigation into wrongdoing at Fox picks up speed,” Avaaz said in an email.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Mayes in London at jmayes9@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen, Rebecca Penty

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.