Ex-Fox News Producer Suing Tucker Carlson for Discrimination Has Never Actually Met Him
When Tucker Carlson abruptly parted company with Fox News on Monday, several theories circulated as to why the organization would let go of one of its highest-rated personalities.
Some thought the split might have been related to the network’s recent costly settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, which cost it $787.5 million.
Other reports tied the departure to a religious-themed conversation involving Carlson and Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch’s then-fiancee.
One hypothesis that the mainstream media immediately latched onto was that the split might have been related to a lawsuit filed against Carlson and Fox News by Abby Grossberg, a former producer on Carlson’s show.
The New York Times titled its story, “In a Lawsuit, Tucker Carlson Is Accused of Promoting a Hostile Work Environment.”
MSNBC trumpeted the headline, “Abby Grossberg: Tucker Carlson made ‘my life a living hell.'”
However, The Spectator published an article Wednesday quoting Grossberg’s legal team as confirming one critical fact that some in the mainstream neglected to mention: The two have never met.
“[T]he former Fox News producer never actually met Tucker Carlson in person while working on his show,” the report said.
That revelation “complicates” the story about the alleged working relationship between the host and the ex-producer, according to the outlet.
The Spectator quoted attorney Kimberly A. Catala, who is representing Grossberg, as saying, “Like many on the [‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’] staff, Abby never met Tucker Carlson in person because he taped the show from his personal studios in Maine and Florida, and he did not visit Fox’s NY HQ during her time there.”
The Times reported that Grossberg, who became Carlson’s head of booking in 2022, was fired in March after she filed two lawsuits against the company.
“Ms. Grossberg said in the lawsuit naming Mr. Carlson that male producers regularly used vulgarities to describe women and frequently made antisemitic jokes,” the Times reported.
Grossberg claimed lawyers for Fox “coerced” her “into providing a misleading deposition in a recent defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems and defending an offensive text from Mr. Carlson.”
After that, the Times reported, “his producers emailed the rest of the staff in recognition of ‘Abby Day’ and suggested ordering a staff lunch to celebrate.”
Substack author Greg Price, who has extensively covered the Carlson firing this week and said he has spoken with multiple sources from the network, reported Thursday that he was told that Grossberg “never met Tucker, was fired after a negative performance review, Fox could not find a single employee to corroborate her claims in the suit, and they could have settled with her but didn’t.”
NEW: According to multiple sources, Abby Grossberg never met Tucker, was fired after a negative performance review, Fox could not find a single employee to corroborate her claims in the suit, and they could have settled with her but didn’t.
Read it: https://t.co/Bu1l8STDnW pic.twitter.com/NcBPxqUvsU
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 27, 2023
The Spectator report quoted Grossberg’s lawyers as insisting that even though the two had never met face-to-face, “she was in contact with Carlson on a daily basis over text and email and that the two also spoke on the phone until she left the network.”
Her lawyers also argued that Carlson could be blamed for the “sexist” New York office environment even though he was not personally present because it “was perpetrated at his direction by other employees who served as his ‘eyes’ and ‘ears.'”
The U.K.’s Guardian reported that Fox “has described Grossberg’s claims as ‘unmeritorious’ and ‘riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees.’
“The company said it had hired an independent outside counsel to investigate the concerns raised by the former employee.”
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