A former Fox News producer said she was “bullied, intimidated and coerced” into avoiding fact-checking of Donald Trump’s lies about voter fraud in the 2020 election, amid the channel’s firing over the $1.6 billion Dominion Voter Systems defamation case.
“They are a huge corporate machine that destroys people.” Abby Grossberg told NBC.
Grossberg was talking Thursday in an interview that will air in its entirety on NBC Nightly News.
Asked while on Fox News why she said a deposition in the case, Grossberg said it’s not her responsibility to fact-check what someone says on air, and that doing so is “bad.”
“It was really bad because I knew I was being bullied, intimidated and coerced to keep my job and stay with the company.”
She added: “I decided to keep my job so I could keep paying my bills. It seemed like a safe decision to me at the time.
Dominion wants Grossberg to testify in court next month in Delaware along with senior Fox executives, including 92-year-old owner Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch.
How Fox News executives and hosts didn’t believe Trump’s fraud claims in Joe Biden’s defeat, but allowed the hosts and guests to air them anyway.
Fox News accused Dominion of relying on “cherry-picked quotes without context to make headlines.”
Arguing that a reasonable audience would understand that it was airing newsworthy allegations, the network said: “The fundamental right to a free press is at stake. News organizations to cover up stories.”
In response to a request for comment on Grossberg’s claims, Fox News said: “The claim that Ms Grossberg was coached or intimidated into being dishonest during her Dominion resignation is patently false.
“We will continue to vigorously defend Fox against his meritless legal claims full of false allegations against the network and our employees.”
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A spokeswoman said Grossberg had advised her that she was not authorized to release privileged information in her complaint against Fox News.
“We were clear that Fox would take appropriate action, including termination, if he violated our instructions,” the spokesperson said.
Grossberg was a booking producer for Fox News anchor Maria Bardiromou and later went to work for Tucker Carlson. In her suit, she describes a misogynistic work culture and alleged harassment, retaliation and victimization.
“They are a huge corporate machine that destroys people.” she told NBC, and added: “I sat in on those meetings. I heard them laughing about ripping off politicians. Now I know they talk about me in those meetings.
He added: “It takes a lot of courage, but it’s great to be able to say it’s not right.”
