Fox Sends Cease-And-Desist Letter To Media Matters Over Leaked Tucker Tapes
Fox Corporation, parent company of Fox News, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Media Matters over a series of leaked tapes featuring former Fox anchor Tucker Carlson.
"That unaired footage is Fox’s confidential intellectual property; Fox did not consent to its distribution or publication; and Fox does not consent to its further distribution or publication," wrote Fox's law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, in a May 5 letter to MMFA. "This proprietary material was given to you without Fox’s authorization. Fox demands that Media Matters cease and desist from distribution, publication, and misuse of Fox’s misappropriated proprietary footage, which you are now on notice was unlawfully obtained. We reserve all rights and remedies."
In one clip, Carlson made a sex joke with Piers Morgan (gasp!).
"If we're going to talk about sex, I'd love to hit some of the fine points of technique, but, you know, but it's your show. It's totally up to you," says Carlson, to which Morgan replies without skipping a beat: "We can certainly talk about your sexual technique, especially after your tanning testicles last week," referring to a joke Carlson made about a reported decline in testosterone levels.
"Not mine," Carlson replies, adding "We'll speak in more general terms, but I've got something to add."
1. Prepping for an interview with Piers Morgan, Carlson tells the host, "If we're going to talk about sex, I'd love to hit some of the fine points of technique"
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 2, 2023
Morgan replies, "We can certainly talk about your sexual technique, especially after your tanning testicles last week" pic.twitter.com/q41FGWujn8
In another, Carlson calls a Dominion Voting Systems lawyer a "slimy motherfucker."
We've got a new FoxLeak.
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 3, 2023
In this behind-the-scenes video, Tucker Carlson talks about how he was "triggered" by Dominion's lawyer, who he calls a "slimy motherfucker," during his deposition. https://t.co/B8hZtOkfBX pic.twitter.com/tPIzgGzFAw
And in yet another clip (which Fox may have hated the most), Carlson slams Fox Nation - saying "Nobody watches Fox Nation because the site sucks. So I’d really just like to dump the whole thing on YouTube."
FOXLEAKS: Tucker Carlson slammed Fox Nation in behind-the-scenes video https://t.co/XhQlKQVHJ1 pic.twitter.com/mKqJBuWzCw
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 1, 2023
MMFA CEO Angelo Carusone told the Epoch Times in response: "Reporting on newsworthy leaked material is a cornerstone of journalism. For Fox to argue otherwise is absurd and further dispels any pretense that they’re a news operation."
"Perhaps if I tell them that the footage came from a combination of WikiLeaks and Hunter Biden’s laptop, it will alleviate their concerns."
More via the Epoch Times,
Journalist Megyn Kelly, a former primetime Fox News anchor, blamed her previous employer for leaking the footage, specifically.
“Ask yourself about my theory that this is Fox News doing it to him, that it’s Irina Briganti, who sat there calling through his commercial downtime to look for anything,” said Kelly, referring to Fox News’ senior executive vice president of corporate communications.
“If this is all you got, you lost your fastball. I can’t wait for the tape that absolutely sinks him because this is absurd,” she continued. “So far you made Fox Nation look bad. You’ve made Tucker look good on his ripping on Media Matters for America. And you’ve made Tucker look good because he’s obviously a funny guy who mocks his enemies and makes [it] clear that he understands you might be taping him!”
Bill O’Reilly, who preceded Carlson in Fox News’ 8 p.m. ET weeknight slot, said on NewsNation on May 3 that the leaking was most likely by someone at Fox News in order to make Carlson look like “a racist villain.”
Fox has refuted allegations of its involvement in the leaks. “This is completely false and an outright lie,” a spokesman said on Wednesday.
