We’ve already covered the biggest controversies in MSNBC history; now it’s time to walk down the Fox News hall of shame.
Fox News ranked as the most-watched cable channel — news or otherwise — in 2024. And yet it has been the subject of relentless criticism, especially regarding allegations of biased and inaccurate reporting.
But Fox News has also had specific controversies and scandals that have disgraced the network. Here are our picks for the worst.
2009: Glenn Beck claims Barack Obama has hatred of white people
In a Fox and Friends appearance in July 2009, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck said he thought then-President Barack Obama was racist and had shown himself to have a “deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture,” as the Associated Press reported at the time.
“I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people,” Beck added, seemingly contradicting himself. “He has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist.”
Seven years later, Beck told The New Yorker he had outgrown those beliefs, saying he had done “a lot of freaking out” about Obama but that the ex-president had made him a better man.
“There are things unique to the African-American experience that I cannot relate to,” Beck added at the time. “I had to listen to them.”
2015: Fox News apologizes for false claims about “no-go zones” for non-Muslims in Europe
Fox News had Fox Report host Julie Banderas apologize in January 2015 for the network’s anchors and guests repeating false claims that there were “no-go zones” that banned non-Muslims in England and France, as The New York Times reported at the time.
David Cameron, then the U.K. prime minister, said he “choked on [his] porridge and … thought it must be April Fools Day” when he heard one such claim, per The Guardian.
“Over the course of this last week, we have made some regrettable errors on air regarding the Muslim population in Europe, particularly with regard to England and France. Now this applies especially to discussions of so-called ‘no-go zones,’ areas where non-Muslims allegedly are not allowed in and police supposedly won’t go,” Banderas said on air, in what she called a correction. “To be clear, there is no formal designation of these zones in either country and no credible information to support the assertion that there are specific areas in these countries that exclude individuals based solely on their religion.”
2016: Roger Ailes resigns amid sexual harassment allegations
In July 2016, Roger Ailes resigned as Fox News’ chair and chief executive weeks after former Fox and Friends cohost Gretchen Carlson alleged that he fired her after she refused to have sex with him. The resignation also came days after then-The Kelly File host Megyn Kelly told investigators that he had harassed her. Ailes denied the allegations.
The Murdoch family, owners of then-parent company 21st Century Fox, had reportedly given Ailes an ultimatum to resign or be fired, per The Guardian.
“Within just two weeks of her filing a lawsuit against Roger Ailes, Gretchen Carlson’s extraordinary courage has caused a seismic shift in the media world,” Carlson’s attorneys said in a statement upon Ailes’ exit. “We hope that all businesses now understand that women will no longer tolerate sexual harassment and reputable companies will no longer shield those who abuse women.”
2017: Bill O’Reilly resigns after sexual harassment settlements come to light
In April 2017, Fox News ousted The O’Reilly Factor host Bill O’Reilly after The New York Times reported that he and the company had paid settlements totaling about $13 million to five women who had accused him of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior — and after an internal investigation uncovered other reports — per the Times. More than 50 advertisers had ditched the show in the days leading up to O’Reilly’s exit, the newspaper added.
“After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel,” 21st Century Fox said in a statement at the time.
2018: Laura Ingraham mocks Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg
In March 2018, The Ingraham Angle host Laura Ingraham tweeted that then-high school senior David Hogg, one of the survivors of the Parkland school shooting, was whining about being rejected by four colleges to which he applied.
In the ensuing controversy, companies like Nestle, Hulu, TripAdvisor, and Wayfair pulled their ads from Ingraham’s program, per NPR. The TV anchor tweeted an apology, writing, “I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland.”
Hogg responded, “I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight. It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children.”
2020: Fox News reaches settlement with family of slain DNC staffer Seth Rich over false story
In November 2020, Fox News reached a settlement with the Joel and Mary Rich, the parents of murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, after they sued the network over a false May 2017 Fox News story alleging that Seth had leaked thousands of DNC emails to WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign, per NPR. The New York Times reported Fox News paid the Rich family millions of dollars.
“The settlement with Fox News closes another chapter in our efforts to mourn the murder of our beloved Seth, whom we miss every single day,” Joel and Mary said in a statement at the time of the settlement, per NPR. “We are pleased with the settlement of this and sincerely hope that the media will take genuine caution in the future.”
2021: Fox News agrees to $1 million settlement after NYC Commission on Human Rights investigation
In June 2021, Fox News agreed to pay $1 million to settle a New York City Commission on Human Rights investigation into “reports alleging a culture of pervasive sexual harassment and retaliation at the network,” as the commission said in a press release.
The commission said its the civil penalties represented “the highest ever ordered for violations under the NYC Human Rights Law” and that the settlement represented “the first of its kind against a major news network by a civil rights enforcement agency in the country.”
2023: Fox News agrees to $787.5 million settlement in Dominion Voting Systems case
In April 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to avoid a trial after the voting machine company filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network. Dominion claimed Fox News had peddled conspiracy theories that the company’s voting machines had switched votes for Donald Trump to votes for Joe Biden.
“Fox knew the truth,” Dominion claimed in its filings, per the Associated Press. “It knew the allegations against Dominion were ‘outlandish’ and ‘crazy’ and ‘ludicrous’ and ‘nuts.’ Yet it used the power and influence of its platform to promote that false story.”
In a statement about the settlement, Fox said, “We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”
2023: Tucker Carlson is ousted and an offensive text message of his comes to light
In May 2023, The New York Times revealed an offensive text message Tucker Carlson sent a producer in January 2021, while he was still a Fox News star. In the text, Carlson recalled watching a video of “a group of Trump guys” beating up an “Antifa kid.”
“It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight,” Carlson wrote in the text, per the Times. “Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him.”
That text message prompted alarm among Fox board members as the company dealt with the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit, and that text and other “internal issues” convinced company leadership that Carlson had to be let go, the Times added. Carlson was ousted from Fox News and his show Tucker Clarkson Tonight was abruptly canceled in April 2023.
2024: Sexual assault allegations against Pete Hegseth become public
In November 2024, The Washington Post reported that Donald Trump’s presidential transition team had been notified that Pete Hegseth, a Fox News star who was Trump’s pick for defense secretary, had been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Monterey, California, in 2017.
According to a statement from Hegseth’s lawyer and documents obtained by the Post, Hegseth denied that the encounter was non-consensual but paid an undisclosed amount (later revealed to be $50,000, per the Associated Press) to the woman out of fear of losing his Fox News job. The city of Monterey said in a statement at the time that its police department investigated a sexual assault allegation against Hegseth but filed no charges.
The New York Times later reported that Hegseth’s mother sent him a 2018 email that accused him of mistreating women, writing, “On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself.” In an interview, his mother told the Times she regretted that email and that her accusations were untrue.
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.