A former Fox News producer is alleging a culture of workplace sexism in a discrimination suit against the network.
Abby Grossberg claims that the staff of Tucker Carlson’s nightly show displayed images of a bathing suit-clad Nancy Pelosi in their workplace, as stated in a civil complaint filed Monday.
Grossberg said she was greeted by the sight of Pelosi in a swimsuit on her first day working on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
“She was shocked to be greeted by many large and blown-up photographs of Nancy Pelosi in a plunging bathing suit revealing her cleavage,” her attorneys argue in their complaint.
“The images were plastered onto her computer and elsewhere throughout the office.”
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“Apparently, the ‘joke’ was that Speaker Pelosi looked terrible in a bathing suit.”
Grossberg identified the Fox News Network and Carlson himself as defendants in the litigation.
The plaintiff also recounts other allegations of a toxic workplace environment — including one incident in which a Tucker producer allegedly asked if host Maria Bartiromo (Grossberg’s former boss) was in a sexual relationship with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.
Grossberg recounted feeling “isolated, overworked, undervalued, denied opportunities for promotion, and generally treated significantly worse than her male counterparts, even when those men were less qualified than her” while working for Bartiromo — an experience that she says continued after joining Carlson’s staff.
Did the Carlson staff take the joke too far?
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No: 95% (20 Votes)
The plaintiff also claimed Fox urged her to lie under oath while testifying in Dominion Voting System’s defamation lawsuit against the network.
A representative for Fox expressed the network’s intent to defend itself against Grossberg’s allegations, speaking in a statement provided to Insider.
“We will vigorously defend Fox against all of her claims.”
The representative also indicated that Fox had “engaged an independent outside counsel to immediately investigate the concerns raised by Ms. Grossberg, which were made following a critical performance review.”
Carlson hasn’t personally responded to Grossberg’s claims.
The law firm representing Grossberg, Filippatos PLLC, expressed their intention of “vindicating Fox’s egregious violation of Ms. Grossberg’s rights” in a tweet.
We are proud to represent Abby Grossberg, Senior Producer at #FoxNews’s Tucker Carlson Tonight show. For years she endured what she alleges was a workplace rampant with sexism and misogyny. We are committed to vindicating Fox’s egregious violation of Ms. Grossberg’s rights. @CNN pic.twitter.com/DkQ7GF2wPw
— Filippatos PLLC (@FilippatosPLLC) March 21, 2023
Grossberg had worked at Fox News since 2019 — joining the staff of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in July 2022, according to Insider.