Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson to produce and host documentary specials for Lifetime

Gretchen Carlson has signed on with A+E Networks to create and host a series of documentary specials for its Lifetime channel, her first TV deal since leaving Fox News.

A+E Networks announced Monday that the opening special in the series, tentatively called “The Brave with Gretchen Carlson,” will focus on sexual harassment, a topic that catapulted the veteran news personality and former Miss America to notoriety.

Carlson played a major role in launching the #MeToo movement when she sued former Fox News chief Roger Ailes for sexual harassment and retaliation in 2016.

The lawsuit opened the door into an investigation of the mistreatment of female employees at Fox News, and it brought the issue of workplace harassment to the forefront of the media and entertainment industries. Fox News settled the suit, leading to the exit of Ailes, who died in May 2017.

Carlson, 51, filed the suit shortly after her contract was not renewed at Fox News. Lifetime will provide her first regular TV platform since leaving the cable news channel, where she anchored an hour of afternoon news and before that, co-hosted the morning program “Fox and Friends.”

“I am proud to partner with Lifetime to make change happen by presenting the heartbreaking, but previously untold, stories of everyday working women,” Carlson said in the announcement of the project. “We need to shine a light on the predators and their enablers, rather than ostracizing and blacklisting the innocent victims whose dreams and careers have been destroyed. I’m grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with A+E Networks on this important project.”

“The Brave” will air on A+E’s Lifetime network. She is slated to do two more episodes that will focus on “inspirational stories of everyday Americans,” according to an A+E statement.

stephen.battaglio@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveBattaglio