Bombshell (2019 film)

Bombshell is a 2019 biographical drama film directed by Jay Roach and written by Charles Randolph. The film stars Charlize Theron (as Megyn Kelly), Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie, and is based on the accounts of the women at Fox News who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. John Lithgow, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Malcolm McDowell, and Allison Janney appear in supporting roles.

Bombshell was released on December 13, 2019. The film was a box-office bomb, but received mostly positive reviews. It garnered praise for its acting as well as its choices of makeup and hair, which won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, while earning some criticism of the screenplay and inaccuracies in the plot and character portrayals.

Plot

After co-moderating the 2016 Republican debate, Megyn Kelly faces numerous insults from Donald Trump, who is angry because she asked him about his offensive misogynistic comments. Under pressure from the network, and after receiving death threats and unwanted paparazzi attention, Kelly eventually reconciles with Trump.

Meanwhile, Gretchen Carlson is removed as co-anchor of the popular Fox & Friends show, and transferred to a less popular show. Inundated by sexist comments on and off the air, including by Roger Ailes, Carlson meets with lawyers, Nancy Smith and Neil Mullin, who explain that her contract prevents her from suing the network, but she can sue Ailes personally.

On her first day on The O'Reilly Factor, Kayla Pospisil meets fellow female staffer Jess Carr, and they start a relationship. The next day, Ailes begins sexually harassing Pospisil. She begins to tell Carr about what happened, but is warned not to get involved because it could jeopardize their own relationship.