I think that perhaps the most bizarre tweet I've seen in a very long while -- which is saying a lot since we have lived through four years of Trump in office, a pandemic and insurrection was this one below posted yesterday by Ed Henry. To be clear, it may not be the most bizarre -- competition for that title is strong -- but on a lot of levels it's got much going for it. It wasn't a new tweet, it's actually from July 1, but it only just now crossed my eyeline. Somehow, inexplicable, I know, I missed it. That doesn't make it any less weird, of course, just belated.
For starters, the mere fact that Ed Henry tweeted the announcement of his lawsuit and sort of in the third person is eye-catching enough. But then, of course, there's the whole announcement of why he's suing. Because he claims that "Fox News" isn't conservative enough. It's really difficult to read this and not be certain that isn't isn't a parody from The Onion. But it's not, it's real. It's a lawsuit by a former "Fox News" host suggesting that the far-right channel, which has regularly been called the media arm of the Republican Party has, as Henry's 23-page court document claims, "shifted to more establishment views in the past year." The best I can figure is that apparently he believes that "Fox News" didn't support fascism enough. I mean, honestly, this is like a story about Bozo suing Barnum & Bailey claiming it's biased against clowns. But the story gets even more weird, which is what puts it it Top Tier Weird. That's because last year, the reason Henry is a "former" host is because he was fired after a civil lawsuit alleging rape was filed by a colleague at the channel. Henry denies the charge, but honestly, how weird to file this lawsuit which he has to know is only going to bring more attention on the other court case, especially since he's claiming that he was wrongly fired for being too conservative and too much a supporter of Trump and the rape lawsuit was only an excuse. And by the way, how weird to make an issue out of a journalist -- who is supposed to be objective and fair, most especially on a channel that began life with the slogan, "We report, you decide" -- complaining that he was fired for being biased. And even more, for trying to paint a purported news organization at fault for supposedly being too balanced. This would seem to be a no-win case for Henry. On the one hand, if he does make his case that "Fox News" has become too middle-of-the road, he's setting the foundation for a "Not guilty" verdict by virtue of the channel supposedly being fair which is what a news organization is supposed to be. On the other hand, if he doesn't prove that to be the case -- and he won't, because it's not even remotely close to reality -- and "Fox News" is shown to still be as far-right as always and still the media arm of the GOP, he'll lose his case. The only thing I can imagine is that Henry looks at the conservative TV "news" landscape and sees Newsmax and OANN creating a new presence that are both so deeply far-right that they can no longer even seen where the line is, and compared to that, "Fox News" appears to be middle-of-the road. Of course, when you compare pretty much anything to Newsmax and OANN, even Attila the Hun would seem middle-of-the-road. But that doesn't mean "Fox News" moved to the middle, just that someone built an extension to the playing field. But there Ed Henry is. Filing his profoundly weird lawsuit. And if you don't think all that is weird enough to quality, there's an addendum. Because, you see, the same day, Henry also filed defamation lawsuits against CNN and PBS. And why did he do that? Because he claims they were unfair in reporting the actual news. Okay, that wasn't his stated reason, but it's actually pretty close. His complaints alleged that the reporters he was suing have “longstanding grudges against Fox News and/or individuals associated with the company,” which he says caused them "to repeat false allegations on the reasons why Henry was dismissed from Fox News relating to alleged sexual misconduct." Except the allegations -- if indeed false -- were actually filed in court as an actual lawsuit, and that they were actually filed is factual, so what they were reporting was actual news. Which Ed Henry appears to believe is wrong for journalists to do and irresponsible and illegal. In fairness to Henry, he had been working at "Fox News" for years, so the concept of reporting facts probably is, indeed, wrong, irresponsible and illegal to him. And of course, at the foundation of these two other lawsuits are the rape allegations, so, yeah, that will get brought up, too. A lot. Weird. Weird, too, is that lawyers would take these cases with, it would seem, no way on earth for them to succeed. But then, we've seen lawyers take on far-right efforts to claim Trump won the election with no way on earth for them to succeed -- and indeed losing 60 of 61 cases, winning only on a technical matter that had nothing to do with fraud, but merely a matter of distance in the recount room. So, I'm guess that the lawyers saw these lawsuits as a big pay day. ("Sue CNN and PBS for reporting the facts? Sue 'Fox News' for being mainstream? You bet, Ed!! That's a great idea! Got anyone else you want to sue? Hey, you want to sue Hasbro for packing Mr. Potato Head and Ms. Potato Head together in one box? We'd be happy to do that!!") But if Ed Henry wants to sue all these people most especially "Fox News," who am I to say no? Let them battle out whether the channel is fair or totally biased -- the latter of which hilariously will have to be at least part of the "Fox News" defense, most especially since they're battling with Newsmax and OANN for the hearts and minds of the far-far right. Oh, please, do carry on...
4 Comments
Douglass Abramson
8/12/2021 08:06:39 pm
It's official, the whole damn planet has slipped into the freaking Twilight Zone. Where's Rod Serling hiding?
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Robert Elisberg
8/12/2021 10:12:38 pm
In the Outer Limits.
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Douglass Abramson
8/13/2021 12:11:33 am
In that case, he's probably being sued by the ghost of Harlan Ellison for one reason or an other.
Reply
Robert Elisberg
8/13/2021 08:49:34 am
I have met Harlan Ellison, and I am pleased to say I was not only NOT sued, but he didn't even tell me off. And in fact, even complimented me. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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