Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson was born on June 21,1966 and is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality.
59 Facts About Gretchen Carlson
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Gretchen Carlson was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People In The World in 2017.
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Gretchen Carlson has written two bestselling books, her memoir, Getting Real, and the New York Times bestseller Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back.
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About three decades after the former beauty pageant contestant was crowned Miss America 1989, Gretchen Carlson served as chairwoman of the board of directors of the Miss America Organization from 2018 to 2019, implementing changes to shift the focus of the pageant from appearances to achievements.
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Gretchen Carlson joined People magazine as a special contributor in October 2020.
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Gretchen Carlson focuses on stories that highlight everyday American heroes doing inspirational acts.
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Gretchen Carlson was born in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, the daughter of Karen Barbara and Lee Roy Gretchen Carlson, one of four children.
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Gretchen Carlson, whose grandfather was a minister, is of Swedish descent through both parents.
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Gretchen Carlson studied with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, and with Mary West of the MacPhail Center For Music in Minneapolis.
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Gretchen Carlson performed in several competitions, such as the Stulberg International String Competition, where she was a finalist in 1982, the American String Teachers Association, where she won second place in 1981 to Joshua Bell, who became a world famous concert violinist, and the Friends of Minnesota Orchestra, where she won in 1979, performing as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra as a prize at just thirteen years old.
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Gretchen Carlson attended Aspen Music Festival from 1976 to 1983, and was a member of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony from 1980 to 1984.
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Gretchen Carlson graduated from Anoka-Hennepin School District 11's Anoka High School, where she was the 1984 valedictorian.
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Gretchen Carlson was crowned Miss Minnesota in June 1988 and became Miss America 1989 on September 10,1988.
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Gretchen Carlson was the first classical violinist to win those titles.
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Gretchen Carlson made many television appearances during her year of service, including appearing on The David Letterman Show, where he jokingly asked her out on a date.
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Gretchen Carlson graduated from Stanford University in 1990 with honors, where she studied organizational behavior.
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Gretchen Carlson spent a study-abroad period at Oxford University, studying the works of Virginia Woolf.
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Gretchen Carlson was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
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Gretchen Carlson planned to attend law school after Stanford and completed the LSAT exam, but instead focused on a career in broadcast journalism.
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In September 2011, Gretchen Carlson was named to the inaugural class of the Anoka High School Hall of Fame.
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In both Dallas and Cleveland, Gretchen Carlson performed her own rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the violin for Major League Baseball games.
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Gretchen Carlson moved to the national television scene as a national correspondent in 2000 and in 2002, she became the co-anchor of the Saturday edition of The Early Show on CBS along with Russ Mitchell.
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Gretchen Carlson frequently anchored the weekend edition of the CBS Evening News during her time at the network.
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Gretchen Carlson co-hosted with Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade for almost 8 years.
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In 2013, Gretchen Carlson admitted on Brian Kilmeade's radio show that Fox News female anchors were not allowed to wear pants.
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Gretchen Carlson returned to Fox and Friends in 2014 during a Cooking With Friends segment with her children and again in 2015 to promote her memoir Getting Real.
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Gretchen Carlson began covering stories that supported women's rights, including a piece on Robin Wright of the Netflix series House of Cards demanding the same salary as Kevin Spacey.
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In 2013, Gretchen Carlson became the first cable news television anchor to go on air with no makeup.
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On January 1,2018, Gretchen Carlson was elected chairwoman of the board of directors of the Miss America Organization, a volunteer position.
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Gretchen Carlson's goals were to transition the pageant into "Miss America 2.0", where the swimsuit competitions would be replaced with on-stage interviews.
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In May 2018, Gretchen Carlson was a correspondent on an episode of the television documentary series America Divided, which airs on Epix.
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Gretchen Carlson hosted Live PD Presents: Women on Patrol and Escaping Polygamy on Lifetime in 2018.
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In December 2019, Gretchen Carlson wrote an opinion article in The New York Times, stating that she still cannot disclose what happened to her due to a nondisclosure agreement, but that it was her desire to be able to do so.
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In January 2020, Gretchen Carlson announced a new television deal with Blumhouse Productions to produce a new interview style series.
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In October 2020, it was announced that Gretchen Carlson would join PEOPLE as a special contributor.
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Ailes at the time claimed the accusations were false, while the law firm representing Gretchen Carlson claimed ten other women had contacted them to speak of Ailes' behavior at Fox News and throughout his television career.
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Gretchen Carlson criticized Fox's attempt to force her claims to be adjudicated via closed-door mandatory arbitration rather than in court.
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Fox filed court papers arguing that Gretchen Carlson was compelled by her contract to adjudicate her claims in arbitration.
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Since her harassment complaint became public, Gretchen Carlson has focused her public work to modify laws that protect predators.
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Gretchen Carlson testified before the House Judiciary Committee in May, 2019.
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On March 3,2022, President Joe Biden signed the bill into law during a ceremony where Gretchen Carlson was introduced by Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Gretchen Carlson spoke about her 5 year journey to pass the bill on behalf of all survivors and then introduced President Biden to sign the bill.
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Gretchen Carlson is a longtime supporter of Miss You Can Do It, a pageant with an emphasis "not on looks but courage".
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When its organizers fell short of their fundraising goals, Gretchen Carlson volunteered to cover the remaining expenses.
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Gretchen Carlson is a member of Women Moving Millions, a global collective of women making unprecedented gifts of $1 million or more for the advancement of women and girls.
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In 2017, Gretchen Carlson was named one of Time magazine 100 Most Influential People in the World, was the recipient of the prestigious Matrix Award, and was named to Variety Most Powerful Women of Impact list.
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In 2020, Gretchen Carlson received the Sandra Day O'Connor Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arizona Foundation for Women.
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Soon thereafter, Gretchen Carlson's organization wrote an op-ed in The Des Moines Register encouraging the debate moderators in Iowa to ask the Democratic presidential candidates about their stance on NDAs.
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Gretchen Carlson has appeared on magazine covers ranging from Good Housekeeping to Time.
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Gretchen Carlson was the first, she was the pioneer and that took unimaginable courage.
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Gretchen Carlson lost her job, she lost her chosen career, her identity and she was pushed away, undermined and undervalued.
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Watts stated in interviews that the story of Gretchen Carlson was "inspiring" and that she dealt with multiple scenarios with "dignity and grace".
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Many incidents were portrayed to the public for the first time, since Gretchen Carlson was unable to speak directly about the events, due to a confidentiality clause in the settlement between her and Fox News.
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Gretchen Carlson is played by Nicole Kidman, with other cast members including Margot Robbie as Kayla Pospisil, Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly, and John Lithgow as Roger Ailes.
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On October 4,1997, Gretchen Carlson married sports agent Casey Close.
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Gretchen Carlson remains an advocate of the arts from her experience as a child violinist.
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At the age of 9, Gretchen Carlson's daughter organized a solo piano recital in their hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut to raise money for charity.
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In 2015, Gretchen Carlson released her first book, Getting Real, a bestselling inspirational memoir about her life growing up in Minnesota, her violin career, Miss America experience and television career.
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In 2017, Gretchen Carlson released her second book, Be Fierce: Stop Harassment And Take Your Power Back.