Seriously cringeworthy. Showtime debuted the first trailer for their upcoming miniseries The Loudest Voice, based on Fox News founder Roger Ailes, on Tuesday, April 16, and it’s unnerving, to say the least. Russell Crowe is uncanny in the role of Ailes in the eight-episode miniseries based on Gabriel Sherman’s bestselling book, The Loudest Voice in the Room. Sherman also cowrote the first episode with Spotlight screenwriter Tom McCarthy.
“Here in America, television news is king,” Crowe’s Ailes says in the video. “We’re gonna give them a vision of the world the way they want it to be. … We’re way past politics, it’s war.”
The trailer dives into the sexual misconduct allegations that were brought upon Ailes; the character is seen touching the hips of Gretchen Carlson (portrayed by Naomi Watts) in the clip.
The series also stars Sienna Miller as Ailes’ wife Elizabeth Ailes, Simon McBurney as Rupert Murdoch, Seth MacFarlane as former Fox News PR boss Brian Lewis, Annabelle Wallis as former Fox News’ Laurie Luhn and Josh Charles as Carlson’s husband, Casey Close.
In July 2016, Ailes resigned as CEO and chairman of Fox News following a series of allegations made against him. Carlson claimed that her boss had made unwanted sexual advances toward her and filed a lawsuit against him. In the suit, she claimed that Ailes sabotaged her television and news career after she turned him down. At the time, Ailes denied her “false” statements.
Following her claims, multiple other women came forward with allegations as well. On May 18, 2017, Ailes died at age 77; he suffered from hemophilia.
The Showtime series is one of two upcoming projects about the former Fox boss. Jay Roach’s untitled biopic stars John Lithgow as Ailes, Nicole Kidman as Carlson and Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly.
The Loudest Voice will premiere on Showtime Sunday, June 30, at 10 p.m. ET.
