(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Former staffer for Fox News Abby Grossberg recently filed suit against the network and former prime-time host Tucker Carlson for fostering a toxic work environment.
However, Grossberg, who was a senior booking producer for Carlson’s show from July 2022 until March 2023, never met the host in person—nor did they even work in the same state, the Spectator reported.
Abby Grossberg's lawyers just confirmed to me that she never actually met Tucker while working for Fox News.
"Abby never met Tucker Carlson in person because he taped the show from his personal studios in Maine and Florida."https://t.co/uoJBHGkf8y https://t.co/TIoGjhylj5
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) April 26, 2023
Grossberg’s own lawyer, Kimberly A. Catala, acknowledged the problematic detail when pressed by Spectator reporter Amber Athey.
“Like many on the staff, Abby never met Tucker Carlson in person because he taped the show from his personal studios in Maine and Florida, and he did not visit Fox’s NY HQ during her time there,” Catala said.
Despite never meeting Carlson or sharing an environment with him, Grossberg alleged that Carlson created a hostile and sexist workplace.
“Tucker and his executive producer Justin Wells, who was also fired, really were responsible for breaking me and making my life a living hell,” Grossberg said in a Tuesday MSNBC interview.
Her lawsuit, which also named the network as a defendant, accused Carlson of “aiding and abetting” the “toxic work environment.”
Specifically, Grossberg attempted to report her concerns to senior producer Thomas Fox, complaining about the treatment that she received.
“We’re all under stress,” Fox reportedly replied. “This is Tucker’s tone and just the pace of the show.”
The suit took Fox’s reply to mean that Carlson was the mastermind behind the allegedly-toxic work environment.
“Mr. Fox was admitting that the misogynistic fish rots from the head down — i.e. Mr. McCaskill behaved towards her in a deplorably discriminatory matter because he was inspired, permitted and enabled to do so by Mr. Carlson himself,” it said.
Catala confirmed this accusation, suggesting that Carlson exercised sexism via his subordinates, one of whom, Justin Wells, was fired alongside Carlson on Monday for reasons that remain unspecified.
It is not believed that Grossberg’s suit was the primary catalyst for the network’s decision to oust its top-rated host, who drew an estimated 3.5 million nightly viewers.
But Wells’s departure suggests that the office culture may, at least, have factored into the Murdoch family’s grievances with the show and its beloved front-man.
“Since Tucker did not come to the Fox office, he relied on Justin Wells, his executive producer, and others like Alexander McCaskill, senior producer, who were present in the office every day to be his eyes, ears and mouthpiece, and to convey his ‘tone,’ as they threateningly reminded Ms. Grossberg,” Catala said.
