OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A salacious accusation has come from the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News, and it involves a rumor that one of the network’s top hosts, Maria Bartiromo, was having an affair with House Speaker and Republican California Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
A Fox News producer, Abby Grossberg, has filed two lawsuits against her employer and, in one, she made the accusation about the affair, Radar Online reported. She claimed that in September 2022 she was “unlawfully harassed” by “Tucker Carlson Tonight” producers Justin Wells and Alexander McCaskill after they called her into their office to ask if there was an affair.
“The next day, Mr. Wells called Ms. Grossberg into his office, where Mr. McCaskill was present, and asked her an uncomfortable sexual question about her former boss: ‘Is Maria Bartiromo f—–g Kevin McCarthy?’” the lawsuit, filed on Monday, said.
“Shocked, Ms. Grossberg replied ‘No,’ and quickly left the room,” it said.
In her lawsuits the producer claimed that “female employees at Fox News were openly harassed, the network’s executives referred to Bartiromo as a ‘crazy b—h,’ and Grossberg herself was harassed over her ‘gender and Jewish religion,’” Radar Online reported.
Like their colleagues on the Fox News Channel, Maria Bartiromo and Larry Kudlow of Fox Business are doing quite well for themselves these days and the network.
According to a press release from FNC, the two network stars crushed their competition on CNBC in their respective time slots last week for the 11th consecutive month.
The release said: “FOX Business Network (FBN) trounced CNBC across Business Day and Market Hours, for the entire month of February 2023, according to Nielsen Media Research. In addition, the network claimed three of the top 10 programs on business television including Kudlow (weekdays, 4 PM/ET), which marked one year as the top business program, along with Varney & Co. (weekdays, 9 AM-12 PM/ET), and The Evening Edit (weekdays, 5 PM/ET). Continuing as the number one market program on television for a full year, Kudlow saw a 50% advantage in total viewers as it outperformed CNBC for the 17th straight month. The show drew in 299,000 total viewers compared to Closing Bell’s 200,000. Stuart Varney’s signature market analysis program Varney & Co. followed closely behind, outpacing Squawk on the Street/TechCheck by 39% with an average of 282,000 total viewers.”
“Notably, Maria Bartiromo’s signature pre-market program Mornings with Maria (weekdays, 6-9 AM/ET) bested CNBC’s marquee program Squawk Box, closing out the month with 118,000 viewers across the live three-hour program. Additionally, the program saw 25% growth in the 25-54 demo year-over-year,” the release added.
“FBN’s Business Day programming (9:30AM-5PM/ET) drew in 218,000 total viewers compared to CNBC’s 196,000. Many of FBN’s core Business Day programs, including CAVUTO: Coast to Coast (weekdays 12-2PM/ET; 180,000 P2+) anchored by Neil Cavuto and The Claman Countdown (weekdays, 3 PM/ET; 162,000 P2+) with Liz Claman notched year-over-year advantages. Making Money with Charles Payne (weekdays, 2 PM/ET) earned 149,000 P2+ and The Big Money Show netted 155,000 total viewers. During the critical Market Hours (9 AM-4 PM/ET), FBN programming was up with 210,000 total viewers, outpacing CNBC’s 197,000 by 7%. FBN drew in 135,000 total viewers and 14,000 A25-54 in Total Day viewership (6AM-6AM/ET),” it added.
FBN’s “The Evening Edit with Elizabeth MacDonald” maintained its lead in post-market coverage for the sixth consecutive month, according to reports. The show garnered an average of 209,000 total viewers, as compared to CNBC’s 172,000. The program achieved double-digit viewer advantages year-over-year in its timeslot and marked FBN’s highest rated 5 PM/ET since January 2021,” the press release noted further.
Another new program, “The Bottom Line,” recorded a 42% lead over CNBC’s “Mad Money/CNBC Special Report,” with FBN receiving 180,000 P2+ viewers as compared to CNBC’s 127,000 P2+. Additionally, “Barron’s Roundtable” (Saturdays, 10-10:30 AM/ET) achieved its highest-rated month ever with 88,000 P2+ total viewers on Saturdays.
Fox News’ release added that FBN dominated amongst affluent audiences in the younger demographic, with their top eight cable news programs including Making Money with Charles Payne ($155,000), CAVUTO: Coast to Coast ($153,300), Wall Street Journal at Large (Fridays, 7:30-8 PM/ET; $151,000), Varney & Co. ($150,400), Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street (Fridays, 7-7:30 PM/ET; $147,000), The Claman Countdown ($146,700), Kudlow ($137,100), and The Big Money Show ($136,400).
“FOX Business Network (FBN) is a financial news channel delivering real-time information across all platforms that impact both Main Street and Wall Street. Headquartered in New York — the business capital of the world — FBN launched in October 2007 and is currently the top business channel on television. The network is available in nearly 80 million homes in all markets across the United States. Owned by Fox Corporation, FBN is a unit of FOX News Media and has bureaus in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.,” the release said.
