The Rise And Fall Of Kimberly Guilfoyle's Time At Fox News

This article includes mentions of sexual harassment.

These days, Kimberly Guilfoyle is exclusively associated with the Trump clan, thanks to her engagement to Donald Trump Jr. and her constant praise of Donald Trump. But before Guilfoyle was associated with one of the most powerful families in the world, she was married to California Governor Gavin Newsom and building her legal career. Guilfoyle served as Los Angeles' Deputy District Attorney before landing a job as San Francisco's Assistant District Attorney, and her love of the law (now somewhat ironic, given her association with the Trump clan) eventually led her to television.

Guilfoyle would make her television debut on "Both Sides" before finally landing a job at Fox News. Ironically, Guilfoyle and Newsom's marriage came to an end just as her career at Fox News started to take off. She joined the network in 2006, hosting the short-lived show "The Lineup," which failed to take off and got axed. Guilfoyle landed on her feet, however, using her legal background to contribute to "Hannity" and "The O'Reilly Factor." Her perseverance paid off — in 2011, she landed a spot on the network's popular segment "The Five." Here, she quickly became a household name, and three years into her tenure on the coveted show, Guilfoyle found herself co-hosting "Outnumbered" as well.

Guilfoyle would continue to be a familiar face on "The Five" for the next seven years before making a sudden, unexpected career switch mired in scandal and controversy.

Word on the street is that, while Kimberly Guilfoyle worked at Fox News, she let fans of the network do her work for her — literally — but here's the rub: her colleagues all knew it and didn't do anything about it. Speaking to the The New Yorker (anonymously, of course), some of Guilfoyle's Fox News pals revealed that she was in regular contact with a religious fan of the network, David Townsend. Townsend, who has no background in journalism, was often the mastermind behind Guilfoyle's arguments on "The Five." He would regularly respond to emails from the Fox News host in which she outlined topics "The Five" were planning to discuss. He would then send her some content to work with for the day.

When questioned about practically doing Guilfoyle's job for her, Townsend told The New Yorker to "mind your own business," adding, "I'm just a Fox fan. I'm a keyboard warrior. I'm a nobody. I've sent stuff to various people at Fox for years, and I don't get a penny for it. I don't know what tree you're barking up, but you better be careful." As for Guilfoyle's colleagues, they found the whole arrangement quite funny. "It was a joke among the production assistants — they were, like, 'Wait till you hear this!' She actually got research from him! It was the subject of hilarity," one co-worker said.

When Guilfoyle left the network in 2018, sources told the Daily Beast that some Fox employees were purposely spreading false stories about Guilfoyle. Whether her collaboration with Townsend was one of these falsities is unclear, but the latter notably didn't deny the allegations when questioned by The New Yorker.

Two years before Kimberly Guilfoyle left Fox News, the network suffered a major PR crisis. Its CEO, Roger Ailes, was accused of sexual misconduct by Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson. Amid the scandal, Roger's wife, Beth Ailes, was scrambling to rally the troops at Fox to proclaim her husband's innocence, and Guilfoyle was one of her trusty recruits. But not everyone was willing to go out on a limb for the disgraced CEO. One of the network's anchors, Megyn Kelly, refrained from issuing a public statement after being advised not to do so and later admitted that she felt pressured by some of her colleagues, including Guilfoyle, to tell the world what a saint Ailes supposedly was.

Word has it that Guilfoyle was one of the first people Beth called after Carlson took her case to court. She asked "The Five" host to help her get everyone on board to defend the CEO's honor, and apparently, Guilfoyle was more than eager to help. This entire debacle was immortalized in the award-winning film "Bombshell," which details what happened at Fox after its CEO's disastrous fall from grace. The film didn't exactly put Guilfoyle in a good light, with her character depicted as going out of her way to convince her colleagues to support Ailes despite the shocking allegations against him, handing out support t-shirts to the entire office. When taking into account the number of times Guilfoyle took her support of Donald Trump way too far, this portrayal of her, albeit fictional, is not exactly far-fetched.

Two years after Kimberly Guilfoyle supported her Fox News boss during his scandal, a 40-page document detailing her own alleged repeated sexual harassment made its way to executives' desks. By this time, Guilfoyle had already left the network — she packed her bags in July 2018, with both her and Fox claiming the split was amicable. Guilfoyle's farewell post on X, formerly Twitter, was pretty standard and didn't address any of the rumors. "Today I have a bitter-sweet announcement. I've decided to leave Fox News Channel and dedicate myself full time to joining America First as Vice Chairwoman, campaigning across the country and firmly standing with President Trump," she wrote. In a second tweet, she thanked the network for playing a vital part in the success of her career.

While rumors of Guilfoyle's sexual misconduct in the workplace began in 2018, her assistant was ready to spill back in 2017, but the ex-Fox employee allegedly tried to buy her silence — with no success. Guilfoyle's assistant accused her of demanding intimate massages, discussing her sex life in great detail, showing her pictures of naked men, and appearing naked in her presence, sometimes asking her to critique her appearance. She also allegedly demanded her assistant spend some nights at her apartment and didn't allow her to have a separate room when they traveled together.

After news of Guilfoyle's alleged sexual harassment in the workplace became public, sources told the Daily Beast that it was nothing but salacious gossip from those trying to smear the former Fox anchor. Guilfoyle vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

It would appear that Kimberly Guilfoyle was already open to other work opportunities as early as 2017. Speaking to The Mercury News, she hinted that she might become the Trump administration's new White House press secretary. It's said that she was a potential candidate for the post prior to Donald Trump winning the 2016 election.

Guilfoyle seemed quite eager to make the move to the White House, telling the outlet, "I'm a patriot, and it would be an honor to serve the country. I think it'd be a fascinating job, it's a challenging job, and you need someone really determined and focused, a great communicator in there with deep knowledge to handle that position." In previous interviews, Guilfoyle seemed to indicate that she embodied all these qualities and that her solid relationship with Trump would make her the perfect candidate for the job. She even said she'd take a massive pay cut to work in the White House. "I've never been someone who's motivated by financial interest. I really don't think of that in terms of any obstacle — if you're passionate about it and you feel like you have a calling for anything in life," she said.

Fox, however, quickly released a statement informing the public that, technically, Guilfoyle couldn't go anywhere without being in breach of her contract with the network. "Kimberly is a valued member of the FOX News primetime lineup and is under a long-term contract with the network," the statement read (via Politico). Funnily enough, this long-term contract didn't seem to matter when Guilfoyle left the network in 2018 amid sexual harassment allegations.

It might be safe to say that Kimberly Guilfoyle remained hopeful that Donald Trump would give her a job in the White House — she did start dating his son, after all — and she was one of the controversial politicians' biggest cheerleaders during his 2024 campaign, even breaking out awkward dance moves that rivaled Trump's at a rally. After her departure from Fox News in 2018, Guilfoyle joined super PAC America First Action, announcing that she'd landed the role of vice chairwoman on X. This organization was notably one of Donald Trump's biggest supporters.

Guilfoyle joining the PAC was hardly surprising, given her eagerness to join the Trump administration back in 2017. "I think I have a very good relationship with the president," Guilfoyle said during an interview that year ((via The Mercury News). "I think I enjoy a very straightforward and authentic, very genuine relationship, one that's built on trust and integrity." It remains to be seen whether Guilfoyle will ever manage to land a coveted job in the White House.