Fox News is, again, being sued for defamation. This time it’s by Ray Epps, who is accusing the network and former primetime star Tucker Carlson of promoting a story that he was actually an undercover agent working for the government and helped start the Jan. 6 insurrection to make then President Donald Trump and his supporters look bad.
The complaint, filed in Superior Court in Delaware, said, “Just as Fox had focused on voting machine companies when falsely claiming a rigged election, Fox knew it needed a scapegoat for January 6th. It settled on Ray Epps and began promoting the lie that Epps was a federal agent who incited the attack on the Capitol.”
Epps attended Trump rallies in January of 2021, but there is no evidence that he went inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and he has never been charged of any crime. The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr and Will Sommer wrote, “In subsequent weeks, then-Fox host Tucker Carlson highlighted a video clip of the Arizona man outside the Capitol to suggest that Epps might have been a government informant — a notion that Epps and the FBI have strongly denied.”
After Carlson’s comments aired, Epps became a central figure in conspiracy theories, and even Republican lawmakers such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie mentioned Epps’ name in public hearings.
The New York Times’ Alan Feuer and Jeremy W. Peters wrote, “The publicity had damaging consequences for Mr. Epps and his wife, Robyn, who received numerous death threats and were forced to sell their five-acre ranch and wedding business in Arizona and move into a 350-square-foot mobile home parked at a remote trailer park in the mountains of Utah. Online retailers began selling T-shirts that said ‘Arrest Ray Epps.’ Some people even recorded songs about him and posted them on YouTube, the complaint states, adding how he had been reduced ‘into a character in a cartoonish conspiracy theory.’”
The complaint also said that Epps had been a regular Fox News viewer and “When Fox, through its on-air personalities and guests, told its audience that the 2020 election had been stolen, Epps was listening. He believed Fox. And when Epps kept hearing that Trump supporters should let their views be known on Jan. 6 in Washington D.C., Epps took that to heart.”
The fact that Epps hasn’t been charged with anything was at the root of the conspiracy theories about him. There is video of him encouraging protestors to storm the Capitol building.
“At another point, however,” the Times wrote, “he pleads for restraint once it becomes clear the situation is turning violent. He also pushes past a police barricade into a restricted part of the Capitol grounds.”
Epps’ complaint says he was informed by the Justice Department in May that he will be charged for his actions on Jan. 6 and that, “The relentless attacks by Fox and Mr. Carlson and the resulting political pressure likely resulted in the criminal charges.”
It’s not believed that Carlson ever specifically said that Epps was a government agent, but he did say on his show that Epps has never been charged, adding, “Why is that? Well, let’s just stop lying. At this point, it’s pretty obvious why that is.”
Carlson was let go by the network in early May, less than a month after the network settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems by paying Dominion $787.5 million.
The network also is facing a defamation lawsuit by Smartmatic, another voting machine company. That trial is expected to begin in 2025.
Fox News didn’t immediately respond when asked to comment.
Enough already
Last Saturday, Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi wrote a story about Simon Ateba, a White House reporter for Today News Africa. Farhi pointed out that Ateba is actually best known for disrupting White House press conferences.
Often complaining that he is never called up to ask questions, Ateba has gotten into shouting matches during press conferences with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and has had verbal confrontations with reporters from other outlets. Jean-Pierre has threatened to end specific press conferences because of Ateba’s interruptions.
Farhi wrote, “Ateba’s repeated demands for recognition — unusual even in a press room with a long history of memorable characters — have frustrated both press officials and the organization that represents reporters, the White House Correspondents’ Association.”
Ateba’s antics have made him a favorite in some circles, particularly some conservative and/or anti-Joe Biden White House commentators. Ateba’s Twitter page has a photo with him being interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
But, Farhi accurately wrote, “Except it’s not really clear what questions Ateba has been seeking to ask. His serial interruptions typically begin and end with a protest about how the press secretary hasn’t allowed him to ask his question.”
Well, whatever his beef is, the White House has had enough. It sent him a letter on Wednesday, threatening to remove his “hard” pass into White House press conferences if he continues to be a disruption.
The White House pointed out several instances in the past several months when Ateba has interrupted the proceedings.
The letter said, “The White House recognizes that members of the press often raise their voices or shout questions at press briefings or events. Ordinarily such shouting stops when a reporter is called on for a question, and the briefing or event is able to continue. Continued interruptions are different; they prevent journalists from asking questions or administration officials and guests from responding.”
It also said, “If you continue to impede briefings or events by shouting over your colleagues who have been called on for a question, even after you have been asked to stop by a White House employee, then your hard pass may be suspended or revoked, following notice and an opportunity to respond.”
Atebo continues to play the victim, even blaming the Washington Post. In a tweet, Ateba said, “Following @washingtonpost hit piece meant to prevent me from renewing my hard pass, the @WhiteHouse and @PressSec office just sent me ‘A WARNING LETTER.”
The Post isn’t the reason for the letter. It’s Atebo’s disruptive behavior. If you want to read the entire White House letter to Atebo, check out Atebo’s tweet — he included it in its entirety.
BBC drama
BBC anchor Huw Edwards in 2017. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)
The drama involving the BBC got even more bizarre Wednesday.
Huw Edwards, an anchor on BBC’s nightly news and one of its most recognizable figures, has been identified as the person suspended for allegedly paying a teenager for naked photos going back to when she was 17 years old.
Before Wednesday, there were reports that an unidentified anchor had been suspended. It was first reported by The Sun newspaper. It wasn’t known that it was Edwards until Edwards’ wife announced it on Wednesday.
In a statement to the BBC, Edwards wife, Vicky Flind, wrote that her husband is currently in the hospital suffering from “serious mental health issues.”
The statement said, “In light of the recent reporting regarding the ‘BBC Presenter’ I am making this statement on behalf of my husband Huw Edwards, after what have been five extremely difficult days for our family. I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children. Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years. The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future.”
London police have said there is no evidence that Edwards has committed a crime.
Meanwhile, a second person has come forward, accusing Edwards of making threatening comments on a dating app.
The BBC said it is continuing its “fact-finding investigations.”
Flind said she also put out the statement identifying her husband so that it would end speculation about other anchors who had nothing to do with the allegations.
The Times’ they are a-changin’
And so it begins. A little before 2 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, The New York Times sent out an email to subscribers linking to a sports column: “This isn’t the end of Northwestern’s problems.”
It’s about the hazing scandal within the Northwestern football program that led to coach Pat Fitzgerald being fired earlier this week. The column was written by Stewart Mandel, the editor in chief of college football for … The Athletic.
This is not the first time the Times has sent out alerts of coverage provided by The Athletic, but, as far as I can tell, it was the first sports notification since the Times announced earlier this week that it was dismantling its sports department and directing readers to sports coverage of The Athletic. And for quite some time now, the Times has featured Athletic stories on the homepage of its website.
But expect to see more of this, particularly when the Times sports department goes away for good in the next two months.
By the way, Mandel’s column is a solid one.
One more thought …
The other day, when writing about some of the legendary sportswriters who worked at The New York Times, I mentioned Red Smith, Dave Anderson and George Vecsey. There were dozens more I could have mentioned, dozens who did outstanding work over the years at the Times.
But one name I also wanted to recognize is Robert Lipsyte — another one of the truly elite sportswriters whose work regularly appeared in the Times sports section in years past. Lipsyte’s career also included writing books — nonfiction and fiction — and serving as an ombudsman for ESPN.
Grim news
More depressing and, well, head-scratching layoff news: the McClatchy chain has laid off three Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists this week.
The three are Jack Ohman of the Sacramento Bee, Kevin Siers of the Charlotte Observer, and Joel Pett of the Lexington Herald-Leader. All three won Pulitzers in editorial cartooning — Ohman in 2016, Siers in 2014, and Pett in 2000.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Ohman wrote, “Good morning. Yesterday, I was laid off by McClatchy, for ‘no cause’, other that they stated they were no longer running opinion cartoons in McClatchy newspapers. I can’t discuss this any further at this time. As the process concludes, I will have more to say. For the moment, I will be fine and will remain in national syndication with Tribune. I am pursuing several opportunities and expect I will have something soon. I have nothing but love and respect for ALL of my Sacramento Bee colleagues. I will resume my national cartoons shortly as well.”
The Daily Cartoonist reported that McClatchy said in a letter, “We made this decision based on changing reader habits and our relentless focus on providing the communities we serve with local news and information they can’t get elsewhere.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger at the Cannes Film Festival in May. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Media tidbits
- Bob Iger isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Iger has agreed to stay on as CEO of Disney through 2026. Iger ran Disney from 2005 to 2020 before retiring. However, he came out of retirement in 2022, presumably for two more years, to take over for his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek. But now the 72-year-old Iger looks firmly entrenched in the job for at least three-and-half more years.
- Writing for Slate, Nitish Pahwa with “What I Saw in Elon Musk’s Truth Army.”
- Speaking of Musk, Variety’s Todd Spangler with “Elon Musk, Twitter Slapped With $500 Million Lawsuit Over Ex-Employee Severance Payments.”
- The New York Times’ Nicholas Nehamas and Maggie Haberman with “DeSantis Confronts a Murdoch Empire No Longer Quite So Supportive.”
- Also, for Rolling Stone, Diana Falzone, Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley with “Murdochs Start to Sour on DeSantis: ‘They Can Smell a Loser.’”
- The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch with “Neil Everett on his ESPN exit, his future with the Blazers, and forgetting he met Damian Lillard.” Or, if you prefer, you can listen to the interview on Deitsch’s sports media podcast.
- HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” which goes behind the scenes at an NFL training camp, has selected its team for 2023. It’s the New York Jets, which is suddenly the hot team to follow because they acquired veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Hot type
Just one item here today because it is so well done and deserves your attention. As usual, simply outstanding work from ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham: “’He was free and clear’: How the leak of Jon Gruden’s email led to the fall of Commanders owner Dan Snyder.” And Van Natta was the guest on Wednesday’s “ESPN Daily” podcast.
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