Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly on Monday accused a senior executive at Fox News of leaking out-of-context, slanderous background information about Tucker Carlson to corporate media outlets.
Rumors have spread that senior officials at Fox News have leaked information about Carlson to Media Matters and The New York Times after the network’s former top primetime host left the network. Kelly, a former Fox News anchor, accused Irena Briganti, Fox’s senior executive vice president of corporate communications, of targeting Carlson by leaking footage and private text messages to left-wing media outlets. Briganti has denied Kelly’s accusations.
“Two videos were released, oh, by whomever could it be — Irena — to The New York Times saying, in one, he called a woman ‘yummy,’ we have zero idea the context. Could’ve been his wife for all I know,” Kelly said. “Zero idea. And one, he said something like, ‘Will my post-menopausal audience still find me attractive in this outfit.'”
Kelly repeatedly claimed that Fox News is the outlet leaking footage to the outlets. (RELATED: Megyn Kelly Weighs In On Tucker Carlson’s Departure, Says Fox News Made ‘Big Mistake’)
“Nice try, Fox,” Kelly continued. “But, you tried and failed. So they first leaked to The New York Times, this is my supposition for the record because it hasn’t been yet been confirmed, but I know it’s them. And I know it’s Irena Briganti who runs comms and fucking hates Tucker. Sorry, she hates his guts. And it’s mutual, he doesn’t like her either. None of us do. Nobody likes Irena.”
Briganti told the Daily Caller that Kelly’s accusation is “completely false and an outright lie.”
Media Matters obtained and published footage of Carlson criticizing Fox Nation, the outlet’s streaming service, on a phone call about his attire during a behind-the-scenes moment of his previous Fox Nation show, “Tucker Carlson Today.”
The New York Times obtained text messages of Carlson, without any context, allegedly calling a female Fox News executive a “cunt” and discussing a woman he finds “yummy.”
2. After describing an unnamed woman to someone off camera as “yummy,” Carlson says, “just kidding, in case this is being pulled off the bird… Hey, Media Matters for America, go fuck yourself!” pic.twitter.com/xxefGaW9SX
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 2, 2023
Kelly then accused Fox of attempting to paint Carlson in a negative light to steer his audience away from him and prevent the Daily Caller co-founder from surging Newsmax’s ratings by becoming an anchor at the rival network.