Tucker Carlson explains why he has avoided covering sexual harassment stories about FOX News
Tucker Carlson has covered sexual harassment allegations about Democrats while remaining largely silent about accusations against his own former colleagues.
Many television personalities have found themselves forced to uncomfortably answer for former colleagues.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson says he has largely avoided covering sexual harassment allegations against his former Fox News colleagues because he did not have anything to add.
In an interview after his appearance at Business Insider's IGNITION conference last week, Carlson explained why he has mostly avoided covering allegations against former figures at Fox News like the late CEO Roger Ailes, host Eric Bolling, and anchor Bill O'Reilly. By comparison, he has devoted extensive time to covering allegations against figures like former NBC host Matt Lauer, entertainment mogul Harvey Weinstein, and Sen. Al Franken.
"It's been thoroughly covered, those aren't secret stories," Carlson said of stories about Fox News. "I can say with honesty I do not know any details that are not in the papers, and those are scant. So I don't know what to add."
But Carlson told Business Insider that believing sexual harassment victims fits a theme of his show: championing total free speech.
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"I've never sexually harassed anybody, obviously, but self-righteousness is a really unattractive quality in people, and it tends to flower on television," Carlson said." And sometimes I do it, and I always regret it. So I really try to remember these are people, and all people with power tend to abuse their power, sexually, financially, in any context."
He added: "But you ought to be able to tell the truth without being punished. ... People who haven't done anything wrong are still worried and nervous, and if we can't say what we think, we've lost something."
Carlson is far from alone in the uncomfortable task of being forced to answer for coworkers and bosses accused of harassment. Many television stars have found themselves in the uncomfortable position of reporting on accusations against figures from their own networks.
"Today" cohost Savannah Guthrie was visibly shaken when she reported that Lauer was fired on Wednesday over allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. The hosts of "CBS This Morning," meanwhile, condemned sexual harassment following allegations against former host Charlie Rose, acknowledging that they were still grappling with how to speak about the allegations.
"I've held him in such high regard," host Gayle King said on Tuesday. "And I'm really struggling, because how do you ... what do you say when someone that you deeply care about has done something that is so horrible? How do you wrap your brain around that? I'm really grappling with that."
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Fox Business Network host Melissa Francis, appearing on Carlson's show last week, recalled the day after O'Reilly was fired.
"While you're throwing stones at us and saying, 'Is this part of the Fox culture? What does it have to do with what's going on over here?' I think you know that your network is full of predators as well, as are all of them," Francis recalled thinking. "These people exist at every single network, and I could tell you who they are, and I bet you know who they are."
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