Fox's Carlson Expresses No 'Ritual Contrition' Over Remarks

Fox News host Tucker Carlson is unrepentant after tapes surfaced of misogynistic remarks he made on the shock-radio show of Bubba, the Love Sponge, from a decade ago, calling them "naughty" remarks for which he would not express "the usual ritual contrition."

Media Matters for America, which describes itself as a "non-profit media watchdog," circulated clips from the show on social media over the weekend, then joined with other groups to stage a protest outside Fox News headquarters in New York Monday, attempting to dissuade advertisers from supporting the show or the new net.

On the audio clips, Carlson uses the c-word and said he doesn't think cult leader Warren Jeffs' arranged marriages between underage women and adults was as bad as statutory rape.

Carlson tweeted the following statement in response:

[embed]https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1104926022376583169[/embed]

Tucker Carlson Tonight airs at 8 p.m. weekdays on Fox News Channel. In the February ratings, TCN was one of the top five-rated news shows on cable in both total viewers and the key 25-54 demo.

Deejay Bubba the Love Sponge has gotten in trouble throughout his career for airing edgy, some argue indecent, content. In 2004, for example, Clear Channel Radio dropped Bubba from its line-up after the FCC threatened to fine the company $755,000 for airing graphic conversations about sex and drugs on stations in five Florida cities.

Fox deferred to Carlson's statement, then to Carlson's much longer statement on his prime time show, The Great American Outrage Machine.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.