In response to the recent backlash faced by Tucker Carlson over leaked backstage comments, Greg Gutfeld, the host of Fox’s late-night comedy show “The Greg Gutfeld Show,” has come forward to defend his former colleague. Gutfeld took to Twitter on Tuesday to express his support for Carlson, stating that the comments in question were simply “nonsense banter” between segments and that those criticizing Carlson were merely “hall monitor failures” enviously chronicling the lives of more successful individuals.
Gutfeld’s defense of Carlson was prompted by a tweet from Matthew Gertz, an employee of Media Matters for America, a left-leaning nonprofit. It remains to be seen whether Gutfeld’s comments will have any effect on the controversy surrounding Carlson’s remarks, but his statement makes it clear that he is standing by his former colleague and is willing to speak out in his defense.
“NEW FOXLEAKS: Media Matters obtained three more behind-the-scenes videos featuring former Fox host Tucker Carlson’s creepy on-set comments,” Gertz wrote on Tuesday, referring to his article published on Media Matters, which included behind-the-scenes videos that show Carlson talking about his “postmenopausal fans” and making sexual references. The article writes that Carlson also said “nobody watches Fox Nation because the site sucks,” referring to Fox’s online streaming service.
Gutfeld became the only public figure at Fox News who defended Carlson after Fox announced last Monday that it had parted ways with Carlson, whereas neither the media company nor Carlson has spoken about the incident.
That wasn’t the first time Gutfeld had mentioned Carlson’s name since the former host departed from Fox. While Carlson’s name has virtually disappeared from the script of most Fox anchors, Gutfeld joked about it in on a segment of “The Five,” Fox’s top-rated opinion show, hours after Fox’s announcement last Monday.
“And then so in 2024, it’ll be Susan Rice versus Tucker Carlson,” Gutfeld said near the end of the segment that focused on Biden’s reelection prospects. The round table did not respond to his comment.
Carlson’s name took over the news cycle last week and reemerged this week when mainstream outlets published scoops of videos and text messages redacted in legal filings from a defamation case against Fox News that they said showed Carlson making inappropriate comments.
A New York Times article published a text message that the outlet said Carlson sent to one of his producers on Jan. 7, 2021. The outlet wrote that the message shows Carlson commenting on an incident where supporters of former President Donald Trump beat a member of left-wing movement Antifa.
“A couple of weeks ago, I was watching video of people fighting on the street in Washington. A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living shit out of him. It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable, obviously. It’s not how white men fight. Yet suddenly, I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it. Then, somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn’t good for me. I’m becoming something I don’t want to be. The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere, somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed. If I don’t care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?” Carlson’s message reads.
NEW FOXLEAKS: Media Matters obtained three more behind-the-scenes videos featuring former Fox host Tucker Carlson's creepy on-set comments. https://t.co/C4a2w6g3yo
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 2, 2023
Shoe on the other foot test:
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) May 3, 2023
If a Black man said in a private message, "That's not how Black men fight," it would not be news. Same with Asian-Americans, Hispanic, etc.
Obviously the attack on Tucker is based on his race. What's it called when you attack someone based on race?
There's obviously a decision by Fox to wage a massive war on Tucker Carlson's character — partnering with both the NYT and Media Matters to do it — and it's extremely odd for many reasons, beginning with the fact that he hasn't uttered a negative word about them.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 3, 2023
It’s probably worth interpreting most leaks out of Fox News this week as Irena Briganti, on behalf of the Murdochs, letting Tucker Carlson know how bad things will get for him if he doesn’t go quietly.
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 26, 2023
This is an excerpt only. Read the full story here.
