Claim linking Abdul El-Sayed’s mother to charity with ties to Hamas, terrorist groups is missing key context
Aug. 25, 2026
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Category: News
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Maria Bartiromo’s Fox Exit “Self-Inflicted Wound”; Trump Praises “True Warrior” As Legal Threats & Accusations Of Host Sharing Insider Info Fly
EXCLUSIVE: The coup de grâce that caused Fox to announce this week that Maria Bartiromo would “no longer be with” the conservative news outlet was a case of “very bad judgment” and a long time coming, sources say.
The assertions come Friday despite Bartiromo’s Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman insisting the veteran Wall Street anchor is still “an employee” of Fox and threatening legal action. Adding to the burgeoning media mess surrounding the so-called “Money Honey,” Donald Trump had thrown serious shade on Fox for taking good pal Bartiromo off the air.
That shade could set the stage for yet another showdown between Trump and his once favorite media buddies at the Murdoch-ruled Fox.
“I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business,” Trump, a frequent Bartiromo guest, posted Thursday night, about 12 hours after Fox announced “effective today” that the Mornings With Maria host was out. “Three different shows, always number one. Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!”
Bartiromo hadn’t been on the air for almost a month, with Deadline confirming that Fox brass had enough of the MAGA-friendly Bartiromo after they learned she passed corporate-guidance missives to the White House in recent months. However, carving her own way at Fox Business and Fox News for more than a decade, those communications were just the latest minefield that Fox execs feared could blow up in everyone’s faces.
“Her indiscretion was just the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds,” a cable news insider says of Bartiromo and her close ties with Trump. “This has been a concern for a while, Maria being too cozy with the White House. She crossed a line, and she’s suffered the consequences.”
Weary of addressing allegations of similar conduct over the years by Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts, or Bartiromo’s contract specifics, the source added: “She’s no longer with Fox. Take that for what it is.”
Deadline hears that while there may be “technical truth” to Freedman’s remarks today that Bartiromo still works at Fox because of contracts and other paperwork, she is not returning to her Fox Business or Fox News roles — full stop.
Long a passionate defender of POTUS and offering him a platform over the years, Bartiromo’s apparent sharing of internal edicts with Trump administration officials, first reported by Status, made her pink-slipping inevitable.
Digging a little deeper and a few years back, the seeds of Bartiromo’s downfall were evident if you connect the red string.
In April 2023, Fox agreed to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, one of the technology firms singled out in Fox’s coverage of the 2020 election results. Citied in volumes of court filings and the high-stakes trial that had just begun when Fox settled, Bartiromo was one of the main hosts on Fox promoting the false claims of irregularities with the election Trump lost and Joe Biden won. At the time, the top-rated Tucker Carlson was pulled off the air at Fox in a move that resulted in a Freedman-handled legal dust-up between Carlson and the media company.
No word from ex-Apprentice host Trump if Bartiromo is in the running to be the new White House Press Secretary, but sharp-elbowed lawyer Freedman says his client actually isn’t looking for a new job because she still has her old one.
“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number one rated television shows on Fox channels,” Freedman said Friday, as my colleague Dade Hayes noted earlier. “She has been, without question, one of the hardest working journalists throughout her award winning career.”
The lawyer for the likes of Carlson and Megyn Kelly, as well as Don Lemon, then unsheathed the knife that may lead to a bloody affair down the line.
“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false,” Freedman said. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.”
When Deadline asked Fox for a response to Freedman’s statement about his client’s employment situation, the company said: “the release speaks for itself.” The White House did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment.
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Did RFK Jr. once testify that brain damage prevented him from holding a job?
- The claim that U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once testified that brain damage prevented him from holding a job remains under investigation.
- The rumor stems from a 2024 New York Times report that cites a 2012 deposition Kennedy reportedly gave in the context of divorce proceedings from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, who died by suicide that year.
- The Times’ story said Kennedy argued in his deposition that his alleged brain damage caused cognitive issues that impaired his ability to make a living. It’s worth noting that the report did not state that Kennedy specifically claimed he could not hold a job.
- According to the Times, Kennedy said in his deposition that a parasitic worm ate part of his brain. He appeared to confirm this in an X post he shared during his 2024 presidential campaign. Further, his campaign reportedly confirmed he had a dead worm in his brain but had made a full recovery.
- While we found a document that appeared to be part of the aforementioned divorce proceedings, we could not find the deposition The New York Times referenced in its 2024 story. For this reason, we’ve left the claim unrated.
- Snopes will update this report if and when additional information surfaces. We have reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment and await a response.
In late summer 2026, a rumor circulated that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once sought to avoid paying alimony by claiming during divorce proceedings that severe brain damage prevented him from holding a job.
The claim appeared on Threads and Facebook. One post on X said Kennedy had asserted he “was too brain damaged to work so therefore couldn’t pay alimony.” (archived):
Snopes readers also searched the website and emailed us to confirm the veracity of the rumor.
The claim stemmed from a 2024 New York Times report that cites a 2012 deposition Kennedy reportedly gave in the context of divorce proceedings from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, who died by suicide that year.
According to the newspaper, Kennedy said in his deposition that his brain damage “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.”
We found one document that appeared to be part of these divorce proceedings, but we could not find the deposition the New York Times referenced in its 2024 story. While we have no reason to doubt the veracity of the Times’ reporting, Snopes relies on primary evidence, including documentation, to rate claims. For this reason, we’ve left the claim unrated until we learn more.
We reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment and await a response. We also asked the Times to direct us to the deposition and will update this story if we hear back.
The Times’ story said Kennedy argued in his deposition that his cognitive issues impaired his ability to make a living. It’s worth noting that the report did not state that Kennedy specifically claimed he could not hold a job. The report stated:
Some of Mr. Kennedy’s health issues were revealed in the 2012 deposition, which he gave during divorce proceedings from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy. At the time, Mr. Kennedy was arguing that his earning power had been diminished by his cognitive struggles.
Kennedy appeared to confirm there was a worm in his brain in an X post (archived) he shared during his 2024 presidential campaign. However, his post boasted that his cognitive state was still superior to that of his competitors — then-former President Donald Trump and then-President Joe Biden.
“I offer to eat 5 more brain worms and still beat President Trump and President Biden in a debate,” he wrote.
Further, his campaign reportedly said he had a dead worm in his brain but had made a full recovery.
The document we found was a 2011 affidavit by Kennedy in which he alleged his second wife had physically abused him, stolen from him, abused his children from a previous marriage and threatened to commit suicide. However, this document, which was published by Newsweek, did not include any information about Kennedy’s alleged brain damage affecting his earning power.
For further reading, Snopes has investigated numerous quotes attributed to Kennedy, including the claim that he once said infertility was genetic.
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Maria Bartiromo’s Fox Exit “Self-Inflicted Wound”; Trump Praises “True Warrior” As Legal Threats & Accusations Of Host Sharing Insider Info Fly
EXCLUSIVE: The coup de grâce that caused Fox to announce this week that Maria Bartiromo would “no longer be with” the conservative news outlet was a case of “very bad judgment” and a long time coming, sources say.
The assertions come Friday despite Bartiromo’s Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman insisting the veteran Wall Street anchor is still “an employee” of Fox and threatening legal action. Adding to the burgeoning media mess surrounding the so-called “Money Honey,” Donald Trump had thrown serious shade on Fox for taking good pal Bartiromo off the air.
That shade could set the stage for yet another showdown between Trump and his once favorite media buddies at the Murdoch-ruled Fox.
“I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business,” Trump, a frequent Bartiromo guest, posted Thursday night, about 12 hours after Fox announced “effective today” that the Mornings With Maria host was out. “Three different shows, always number one. Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!”
Bartiromo hadn’t been on the air for almost a month, with Deadline confirming that Fox brass had enough of the MAGA-friendly Bartiromo after they learned she passed corporate-guidance missives to the White House in recent months. However, carving her own way at Fox Business and Fox News for more than a decade, those communications were just the latest minefield that Fox execs feared could blow up in everyone’s faces.
“Her indiscretion was just the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds,” a cable news insider says of Bartiromo and her close ties with Trump. “This has been a concern for a while, Maria being too cozy with the White House. She crossed a line, and she’s suffered the consequences.”
Weary of addressing allegations of similar conduct over the years by Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts, or Bartiromo’s contract specifics, the source added: “She’s no longer with Fox. Take that for what it is.”
Deadline hears that while there may be “technical truth” to Freedman’s remarks today that Bartiromo still works at Fox because of contracts and other paperwork, she is not returning to her Fox Business or Fox News roles — full stop.
Long a passionate defender of POTUS and offering him a platform over the years, Bartiromo’s apparent sharing of internal edicts with Trump administration officials, first reported by Status, made her pink-slipping inevitable.
Digging a little deeper and a few years back, the seeds of Bartiromo’s downfall were evident if you connect the red string.
In April 2023, Fox agreed to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, one of the technology firms singled out in Fox’s coverage of the 2020 election results. Citied in volumes of court filings and the high-stakes trial that had just begun when Fox settled, Bartiromo was one of the main hosts on Fox promoting the false claims of irregularities with the election Trump lost and Joe Biden won. At the time, the top-rated Tucker Carlson was pulled off the air at Fox in a move that resulted in a Freedman-handled legal dust-up between Carlson and the media company.
No word from ex-Apprentice host Trump if Bartiromo is in the running to be the new White House Press Secretary, but sharp-elbowed lawyer Freedman says his client actually isn’t looking for a new job because she still has her old one.
“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number one rated television shows on Fox channels,” Freedman said Friday, as my colleague Dade Hayes noted earlier. “She has been, without question, one of the hardest working journalists throughout her award winning career.”
The lawyer for the likes of Carlson and Megyn Kelly, as well as Don Lemon, then unsheathed the knife that may lead to a bloody affair down the line.
“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false,” Freedman said. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.”
When Deadline asked Fox for a response to Freedman’s statement about his client’s employment situation, the company said: “the release speaks for itself.” The White House did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment.
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Why federal judge ruled First Amendment protects certain AI-generated child sex abuse material
Claim:A federal judge rule certain AI-generated child sex abuse material is protected by First Amendment.
ContextIn his decision, Judge John Z. Lee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, referred to two U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1969 and 2002. The first says people have the right to keep obscenity in the privacy of their homes and the second says child sex abuse material that does not depict real children is not child pornography and is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The judge also said that while he is bound by precedent, he is concerned by “the lines these cases draw.”
A rumor spread in late summer 2026 that a federal judge ruled the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which establishes the right to free speech, protects certain artificial intelligence-generated child sex abuse material.
A number of Snopes readers emailed to share an image that relayed the story. “A federal judge has ruled that the First Amendment protects an individual’s right to privately possess child sexual abuse content created using Al if it does not depict a real person and remains in the home,” the image read. Meanwhile, one X post shared a screenshot of a post by The Washington Post making the claim, saying the judge’s decision “normalises child sexual abuse” and “feeds the depravity” (archived):
In sum, the claim was true, but it lacked crucial context. In his Aug. 25, 2026, decision, Judge John Z. Lee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, said precedent forced him to make this ruling, pointing to two U.S. Supreme Court decisions. He added that the current state of technological advance meant the court had “concerns” about the “lines” set by these two Supreme Court decisions.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on whether the agency intends to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Law hasn’t caught up with AI, judge suggested
In 2024, a man named Steven Anderegg was arrested on charges of fabricating, possessing and distributing AI-generated child sex abuse material, as well as sending some of this material to a minor. Anderegg asked for the charges of production and possession to be dismissed, which a federal district court in Wisconsin granted on grounds that these counts ran against decided caselaw.
The prosecutors then appealed this decision, but Lee agreed with the lower court, citing two decisions the Supreme Court rendered in 1969 and 2002.
The first decision, Stanley v. Georgia, said the First Amendment protects people who privately keep obscene material. “The First Amendment does not allow a state to criminalize the private possession of obscene matter,” read the summary of the case on the Justia website, a free online collection of all U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
The second decision — Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition — came six years after the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996. It ruled that child sex abuse material that does not depict real children is not child pornography, and that it is protected by the First Amendment. This decision explicitly covered digital images.
“The statute sought to outlaw all speech that was related to the possibility of child pornography, including images of adults who look like children and computer-generated images,” the case’s Justia page reads.
While Lee said he was compelled by judicial precedent to make this ruling, he also expressed “concerns about the lines these cases draw,” given how quickly AI technology is evolving. The judge also said that fabricated child sex abuse material that does not depict real persons was becoming more and more difficult to distinguish from such material that showed real children, making law enforcement more difficult.
“Recent data suggests that the influx of AI-generated images reported to the NCMEC [National Center for Missing and Exploited Children] CyberTipline imposes increasing burdens on law enforcement,” the judge wrote in his decision.
A paragraph in Lee’s decision summarized his rationale (Page 3 of this document):
We now live in an age where GenAI [generative AI] models can render images depicting the abuse of virtual children that are virtually indistinguishable from those depicting the abuse of actual children. This case illuminates how this evolving technology complicates the lines drawn by the Supreme Court in Stanley, Osborne, and Free Speech Coalition. Indeed, in Free Speech Coalition, the Supreme Court addressed the scope of First Amendment protections for virtual CSAM, but that was nearly twenty-five years ago, and the image-generation technology available today was likely unimaginable back then. Given the relentless advancement in artificial intelligence models, we have some concerns about the lines these cases draw, but we are not free to redraw them ourselves.
In other words, Lee said he could not on his own change a precedent set by the Supreme Court. It would therefore fall upon the Supreme Court to change the interpretation of the law to account for current technology and its consequences.
For further reading, Snopes examined the claim that 17 Republican Colorado lawmakers voted against banning AI-generated child sex abuse material.
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Are you concerned about contaminated food? Here are 15 rumors we’ve inspected
Posts claim Texas Roadhouse servers contaminated Black customers’ food. Here’s what we know
Aug. 25, 2026
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Oklahoma inmates made $2 an hour working for political call centers, documents show
Claim:The Oklahoma Department of Corrections contracted inmates to work for a call center company that handled making calls for a conservative super PAC.
A rumor circulated in early September 2026 that incarcerated people in the state of Oklahoma were contracted to work for a call center company that handled telemarketing for a conservative super PAC.
Users on social media shared the rumor, with some claiming the Oklahoma Department of Corrections earned $10 per hour from the vendor but that prison laborers were getting paid only $2 per hour.
The rumors circulated as the United States approached the Labor Day holiday, which has celebrated the labor movement since the late 1800s.
The claim was true, according to a service contract between the state prison department and telemarketing company HBW Leads, embedded below.
The document originated in reporting by Oklahoma Watch, a nonprofit investigative journalism outlet, which published the article on Aug. 24, 2026.
One current inmate, Steve Wilbanks, was named as a source. Snopes confirmed Wilbanks was a prisoner at the James Crabtree Correctional Center in Helena and has been in state custody since 2015. Oklahoma Watch cited three other inmates used as sources anonymously.
According to the report, inmates earned $2 per hour at call centers located at four state prisons: James Crabtree, Mabel Bassett in McLoud and Lexington Correctional and Joseph Harp, both in Lexington.
According to the service contract, tasks inmates could perform were:
1. outbound calls related to marketing lead generation; and
2. conducting or assisting with political opinion polling, subject to applicable laws and regulations.The contract further says Oklahoma Correctional Industries, a division of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections whose website says it “employs offenders who lack marketable job skills,” would earn $10 per hour of work per inmate. However, the contract states the corrections department can “withhold up to but not to exceed 80 percent of the wage rate per inmate hour worked,” which matches the rates reported.
The Oklahoma Watch piece stated:
BW Leads agreed to pay the Department of Corrections $10 per inmate hour worked. Prisoners employed at the call centers earn $2 per hour, plus possible bonuses for generating leads or completing surveys.
The remaining $8 per hour is allocated as overhead for Oklahoma Correctional Industries, a self-supporting sub-entity of the Department of Corrections that provides work programs and job training to inmates.
We reached out to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for further comment on the report. We also asked for the specific reasoning behind inmate pay structure and why telemarketing doesn’t appear on the list of services provided by Oklahoma Correctional Industries. We’ll update this article if we hear back.
HBW Leads’ website identified the Oregon-based company as generating “insurance leads” gained through telemarketing on behalf of the clients who hire them. The website said, “Our lead specialists spend, on average, 4-7 minutes with each potential prospect asking them a series of qualifying questions on your behalf.”
HBW Leads made no mention of political calling on its website, but a subsidiary company operating out of Toledo, Ohio, Visible Trends, specializes in “polling, fundraising, legislative outreach, or GOTV,” referring to get-out-the-vote efforts.
A business search on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website confirmed Visible Trends to be registered by HBW Leads in January 2025.
(Ohio Secretary of State)
One of Oklahoma Watch’s sources said some of the statements they read during their telemarketing jobs specified that the calls were paid for by conservative super PAC Make Liberty Win, whose website described them as specializing “in mobilizing voters to engage in primary and general elections through direct voter contact.”
An FEC filing (archived) showed at least 38 payments totaling more than $400,000 from Make Liberty Win to Visible Trends between from March 2026 and June 2026, the same term length shown in the service contract between HBW Leads and the corrections department.
Though it was clear the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and HBW Leads had established a contract to use inmates as telemarketers, Snopes couldn’t independently verify whether the inmates made political calls on behalf of Make Liberty Win specifically.
Oklahoma Watch’s reported one of its sources said they made political calls that resembled push-polling, in which the caller purports to be asking survey questions but actually aims to influence voters, a practice generally frowned upon in campaigning.
We reached out to Make Liberty Win to ask whether it was aware of Visible Trends using prison laborers and will update this article if we hear back.
Oklahoma Watch reported that the super PAC’s executive director, Barrett Young, told the outlet that the group was unaware of the use of prison labor and has since canceled the contract for performance reasons.
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Maria Bartiromo’s Fox Exit “Self-Inflicted Wound”; Trump Praises “True Warrior” As Legal Threats & Accusations Of Host Sharing Insider Info Fly
EXCLUSIVE: The coup de grâce that caused Fox to announce this week that Maria Bartiromo would “no longer be with” the conservative news outlet was a case of “very bad judgment” and a long time coming, sources say.
The assertions come Friday despite Bartiromo’s Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman insisting the veteran Wall Street anchor is still “an employee” of Fox and threatening legal action. Adding to the burgeoning media mess surrounding the so-called “Money Honey,” Donald Trump had thrown serious shade on Fox for taking good pal Bartiromo off the air.
That shade could set the stage for yet another showdown between Trump and his once favorite media buddies at the Murdoch-ruled Fox.
“I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business,” Trump, a frequent Bartiromo guest, posted Thursday night, about 12 hours after Fox announced “effective today” that the Mornings With Maria host was out. “Three different shows, always number one. Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!”
Bartiromo hadn’t been on the air for almost a month, with Deadline confirming that Fox brass had enough of the MAGA-friendly Bartiromo after they learned she passed corporate-guidance missives to the White House in recent months. However, carving her own way at Fox Business and Fox News for more than a decade, those communications were just the latest minefield that Fox execs feared could blow up in everyone’s faces.
“Her indiscretion was just the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds,” a cable news insider says of Bartiromo and her close ties with Trump. “This has been a concern for a while, Maria being too cozy with the White House. She crossed a line, and she’s suffered the consequences.”
Weary of addressing allegations of similar conduct over the years by Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts, or Bartiromo’s contract specifics, the source added: “She’s no longer with Fox. Take that for what it is.”
Deadline hears that while there may be “technical truth” to Freedman’s remarks today that Bartiromo still works at Fox because of contracts and other paperwork, she is not returning to her Fox Business or Fox News roles — full stop.
Long a passionate defender of POTUS and offering him a platform over the years, Bartiromo’s apparent sharing of internal edicts with Trump administration officials, first reported by Status, made her pink-slipping inevitable.
Digging a little deeper and a few years back, the seeds of Bartiromo’s downfall were evident if you connect the red string.
In April 2023, Fox agreed to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, one of the technology firms singled out in Fox’s coverage of the 2020 election results. Citied in volumes of court filings and the high-stakes trial that had just begun when Fox settled, Bartiromo was one of the main hosts on Fox promoting the false claims of irregularities with the election Trump lost and Joe Biden won. At the time, the top-rated Tucker Carlson was pulled off the air at Fox in a move that resulted in a Freedman-handled legal dust-up between Carlson and the media company.
No word from ex-Apprentice host Trump if Bartiromo is in the running to be the new White House Press Secretary, but sharp-elbowed lawyer Freedman says his client actually isn’t looking for a new job because she still has her old one.
“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number one rated television shows on Fox channels,” Freedman said Friday, as my colleague Dade Hayes noted earlier. “She has been, without question, one of the hardest working journalists throughout her award winning career.”
The lawyer for the likes of Carlson and Megyn Kelly, as well as Don Lemon, then unsheathed the knife that may lead to a bloody affair down the line.
“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false,” Freedman said. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.”
When Deadline asked Fox for a response to Freedman’s statement about his client’s employment situation, the company said: “the release speaks for itself.” The White House did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment.
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Maria Bartiromo’s Fox Exit “Self-Inflicted Wound”; Trump Praises “True Warrior” As Legal Threats & Accusations Of Host Sharing Insider Info Fly
EXCLUSIVE: The coup de grâce that caused Fox to announce this week that Maria Bartiromo would “no longer be with” the conservative news outlet was a case of “very bad judgment” and a long time coming, sources say.
The assertions come Friday despite Bartiromo’s Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman insisting the veteran Wall Street anchor is still “an employee” of Fox and threatening legal action. Adding to the burgeoning media mess surrounding the so-called “Money Honey,” Donald Trump had thrown serious shade on Fox for taking good pal Bartiromo off the air.
That shade could set the stage for yet another showdown between Trump and his once favorite media buddies at the Murdoch-ruled Fox.
“I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business,” Trump, a frequent Bartiromo guest, posted Thursday night, about 12 hours after Fox announced “effective today” that the Mornings With Maria host was out. “Three different shows, always number one. Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!”
Bartiromo hadn’t been on the air for almost a month, with Deadline confirming that Fox brass had enough of the MAGA-friendly Bartiromo after they learned she passed corporate-guidance missives to the White House in recent months. However, carving her own way at Fox Business and Fox News for more than a decade, those communications were just the latest minefield that Fox execs feared could blow up in everyone’s faces.
“Her indiscretion was just the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds,” a cable news insider says of Bartiromo and her close ties with Trump. “This has been a concern for a while, Maria being too cozy with the White House. She crossed a line, and she’s suffered the consequences.”
Weary of addressing allegations of similar conduct over the years by Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts, or Bartiromo’s contract specifics, the source added: “She’s no longer with Fox. Take that for what it is.”
Deadline hears that while there may be “technical truth” to Freedman’s remarks today that Bartiromo still works at Fox because of contracts and other paperwork, she is not returning to her Fox Business or Fox News roles — full stop.
Long a passionate defender of POTUS and offering him a platform over the years, Bartiromo’s apparent sharing of internal edicts with Trump administration officials, first reported by Status, made her pink-slipping inevitable.
Digging a little deeper and a few years back, the seeds of Bartiromo’s downfall were evident if you connect the red string.
In April 2023, Fox agreed to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, one of the technology firms singled out in Fox’s coverage of the 2020 election results. Citied in volumes of court filings and the high-stakes trial that had just begun when Fox settled, Bartiromo was one of the main hosts on Fox promoting the false claims of irregularities with the election Trump lost and Joe Biden won. At the time, the top-rated Tucker Carlson was pulled off the air at Fox in a move that resulted in a Freedman-handled legal dust-up between Carlson and the media company.
No word from ex-Apprentice host Trump if Bartiromo is in the running to be the new White House Press Secretary, but sharp-elbowed lawyer Freedman says his client actually isn’t looking for a new job because she still has her old one.
“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number one rated television shows on Fox channels,” Freedman said Friday, as my colleague Dade Hayes noted earlier. “She has been, without question, one of the hardest working journalists throughout her award winning career.”
The lawyer for the likes of Carlson and Megyn Kelly, as well as Don Lemon, then unsheathed the knife that may lead to a bloody affair down the line.
“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false,” Freedman said. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.”
When Deadline asked Fox for a response to Freedman’s statement about his client’s employment situation, the company said: “the release speaks for itself.” The White House did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment.
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Maria Bartiromo’s Fox Exit “Self-Inflicted Wound”; Trump Praises “True Warrior” As Legal Threats & Accusations Of Host Sharing Insider Info Fly
EXCLUSIVE: The coup de grâce that caused Fox to announce this week that Maria Bartiromo would “no longer be with” the conservative news outlet was a case of “very bad judgment” and a long time coming, sources say.
The assertions come Friday despite Bartiromo’s Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman insisting the veteran Wall Street anchor is still “an employee” of Fox and threatening legal action. Adding to the burgeoning media mess surrounding the so-called “Money Honey,” Donald Trump had thrown serious shade on Fox for taking good pal Bartiromo off the air.
That shade could set the stage for yet another showdown between Trump and his once favorite media buddies at the Murdoch-ruled Fox.
“I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business,” Trump, a frequent Bartiromo guest, posted Thursday night, about 12 hours after Fox announced “effective today” that the Mornings With Maria host was out. “Three different shows, always number one. Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!”
Bartiromo hadn’t been on the air for almost a month, with Deadline confirming that Fox brass had enough of the MAGA-friendly Bartiromo after they learned she passed corporate-guidance missives to the White House in recent months. However, carving her own way at Fox Business and Fox News for more than a decade, those communications were just the latest minefield that Fox execs feared could blow up in everyone’s faces.
“Her indiscretion was just the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds,” a cable news insider says of Bartiromo and her close ties with Trump. “This has been a concern for a while, Maria being too cozy with the White House. She crossed a line, and she’s suffered the consequences.”
Weary of addressing allegations of similar conduct over the years by Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts, or Bartiromo’s contract specifics, the source added: “She’s no longer with Fox. Take that for what it is.”
Deadline hears that while there may be “technical truth” to Freedman’s remarks today that Bartiromo still works at Fox because of contracts and other paperwork, she is not returning to her Fox Business or Fox News roles — full stop.
Long a passionate defender of POTUS and offering him a platform over the years, Bartiromo’s apparent sharing of internal edicts with Trump administration officials, first reported by Status, made her pink-slipping inevitable.
Digging a little deeper and a few years back, the seeds of Bartiromo’s downfall were evident if you connect the red string.
In April 2023, Fox agreed to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, one of the technology firms singled out in Fox’s coverage of the 2020 election results. Citied in volumes of court filings and the high-stakes trial that had just begun when Fox settled, Bartiromo was one of the main hosts on Fox promoting the false claims of irregularities with the election Trump lost and Joe Biden won. At the time, the top-rated Tucker Carlson was pulled off the air at Fox in a move that resulted in a Freedman-handled legal dust-up between Carlson and the media company.
No word from ex-Apprentice host Trump if Bartiromo is in the running to be the new White House Press Secretary, but sharp-elbowed lawyer Freedman says his client actually isn’t looking for a new job because she still has her old one.
“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number one rated television shows on Fox channels,” Freedman said Friday, as my colleague Dade Hayes noted earlier. “She has been, without question, one of the hardest working journalists throughout her award winning career.”
The lawyer for the likes of Carlson and Megyn Kelly, as well as Don Lemon, then unsheathed the knife that may lead to a bloody affair down the line.
“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false,” Freedman said. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.”
When Deadline asked Fox for a response to Freedman’s statement about his client’s employment situation, the company said: “the release speaks for itself.” The White House did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment.
