Fox News celebrates its 25th anniversary Thursday, and while the top-rated cable news network is airing promos and its hosts are reminiscing, other channels are getting their digs in. Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” for one, cobbled together almost four minutes of footage featuring top male Fox News hosts making outdated, sexist remarks on air.
“Happy 25th anniversary, Fox News! Here’s to 25 more (sexual harassment and defamation lawsuits)!” cheered the caption for the clip.
Viewers of the montage will recognize familiar hosts, some of whom, like Brian Kilmeade, still work at the channel. Others, like Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck, have since departed. In O’Reilly’s case, his departure — like that of Eric Bolling and Ed Henry — was related to the accusations against him.
There are familiar female faces, too. Gretchen Carlson and Andrea Tantaros both feature repeatedly in the clips as male hosts make comments about their sex lives or crack jokes about women’s roles in American society. Both of those women have departed the network, too. Carlson famously sued Fox News and its late founder Roger Ailes for sexual harassment, causing a domino effect that led to a restructuring at the company. Tantaros also sued, alleging harassment and misogyny.
Kimberly Guilfoyle is in there, too. In July 2018, Guilfoyle left Fox News — where she co-hosted “The Five” — after the news network opened an investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct, including that she shared inappropriate photographs of male genitalia with coworkers. Her lawyer denied the accusations, and she went on to work for former President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful reelection campaign alongside her boyfriend, Donald Trump Jr.
Fox News issued a statement on the issue earlier this year after O’Reilly accuser Andrea Mackris — who settled with him, but was not the last to do so — spoke out . A spokesperson redirected to it Thursday.
“The claims outlined in this report took place under the leadership of Roger Ailes, who along with Bill O’Reilly and the management referred to here, have been long gone from the network,” the statement said. “Since the summer of 2016, Fox News has worked tirelessly to transform the company culture, including naming a new chief executive, tripling the size of our HR footprint, designating a new senior leadership team predominantly comprised of women and establishing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council. We have also instituted mandatory in-person, live harassment prevention training, designated multiple avenues to report ‘concerning behavior’ including an anonymous alert line, enhanced company-wide communication with quarterly company meetings and mentoring events, as well as implemented a zero tolerance policy regarding workplace misconduct of any kind for which we engage outside independent firms to handle all investigations. No other media company has undergone such a comprehensive and continuous overhaul which resulted in our designation as a Great Place to Work last year.”
Under CEO Suzanne Scott, women now make up more than half of Fox News Media’s leadership.
Watch the “Daily Show” montage above.