‘Fox Leaks’ Videos Target Tucker Carlson Following Exit From Network

Tucker Carlson speaks during 2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Hollywood, Fla., on Nov. 17, 2022. Jason Koerner/Getty Images

In the wake of Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox News, a left-wing organization appears to have obtained behind-the-scenes footage of Carlson and is leaking them online.

For the past several days, Media Matters for America has posted what it calls “FOXLEAKS,” showing videos of the Fox News host speaking about a range of subjects.

“NEW FOXLEAKS: Media Matters obtained three more behind-the-scenes videos” with Carlson’s on-set remarks, Media Matters staffer Matt Gertz wrote, including an article containing the leaked videos.

In all of the videos, Carlson appears to be making jokes with members of his staff, including one where he directly insults Media Matters. “I can never assess my appearance. I wait for my postmenopausal fans to weigh in on that,” he joked in one that appears to have been captured before his Fox Nation program.

In a previous one, Carlson was seen criticizing Fox Nation’s website and said it doesn’t function well. That video was purportedly captured in 2022, and Carlson was speaking to right-wing commentator Andrew Tate.

“I know, but we’re doing our part. We’re like working like animals to produce all this content, and the people in charge of it, whoever that guy’s, whatever his name is, like, they’re ignoring the fact that the site doesn’t work,” Carlson said in the footage posted online, speaking to an off-camera person.

“I’m just frustrated with,” he says of Fox’s streaming service, Fox Nation. “It’s hard to use that site. I don’t know why they’re not fixing it. It’s driving me insane. And they’re like making, like, Lifetime movies. But they don’t, they don’t work on the infrastructure of the site. Like what? It’s crazy. And it drives me crazy because it’s like we’re doing all this extra work and no one can find it. It’s unbelievable, actually.”

There have been other apparent leaks, too, including one that was provided to the New York Times and other news outlets that highlighted a text message that was allegedly sent by Carlson to a producer about an violent incident that occurred following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. The Epoch Times could not confirm the authenticity of those messages.

But days before that, Fox News’ sister company newspaper The Wall Street Journal published an article, citing anonymous sources, that alleged he used crude and vulgar language towards his colleagues.

Carlson has not issued any public responses to the leaked videos or articles.

Response

After Media Matters, the left-wing nonprofit started by controversial author David Brock, released several of its videos, Fox News host Greg Gutfeld issued a derisive comment about the organization.

“Apparently everyone understands nonsense banter between segments except for hall monitor failures bitterly chronicling the lives of the far more successful,” Gutfeld wrote in response, becoming the first Fox News host to defend Carlson.

Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly this week responded to the leaked footage, claiming that individuals within Fox News are providing the clips to left-wing news outlets to attack Carlson due to a personal vendetta. Kelly, who departed the network in 2017, alleged specifically that Fox is trying to destroy Carlson after it parted ways with the former host a week ago.

“So they first leaked to the New York Times,” Kelly alleged. “This is my supposition for the record because it has yet to be confirmed but I know it is them.”

“This is all an orchestrated hit job, in my opinion, and it’s not a subtle one,” Kelly said on her “The Megyn Kelly Show.” She added, “It’s not enough to fire you. You must be destroyed, and it doesn’t matter how nice a guy you were, how many points you put on the board for the channel, that you brought us through the Trump years, that you were No. 1 in your time slot, that you haven’t said one negative word about us.”

And Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s son, made a similar allegation on Twitter that Fox News itself is leaking the footage.

“Fox News leaking to the left-wing New York Times to smear Tucker Carlson isn’t just an attack on Tucker, it’s an attack on all of his fans and conservatives everywhere,” he wrote.

As for Kelly, she alleged that Fox News executive Irena Briganti is behind the leaks. She didn’t provide evidence to back up her claims, other than “she hates [Carlson’s] guts.”

Briganti told news outlets that Kelly’s claims about the leaked Carlson video’s aren’t true.

When reached for comment, a Fox News spokesman told The Epoch Times that Kelly’s allegations have no merit. “This is completely false and an outright lie,” a spokesman said on Wednesday.