Fox News tries to book child sexual abuse survivor for show but lawyer has scathing response: 'Not on my watch'
A lawyer has submitted a scathing response to a Fox News request to book one of Roy Moore's accusers for an interview with Sean Hannity.
In the wake of multiple allegations of child sex abuse against Alabama senate candidate Mr Moore, Fox News producer Alyssa Moni asked to interview alleged victim Gloria Deason on Mr Hannity's prime time Fox show.
Ms Deason’s lawyer, Paula Cobia, emailed back to decline the request.
“Please tell Sean Hannity that I would never submit a survivor of abuse to the inevitable on-camera bullying and persecution by him,” she wrote to Ms Moni.
Mr Moore invited Ms Deason for drinks in 1979 when he was 32 and she was 18, below the legal drinking age. He was also accused of making advances on younger teenagers.
Ms Cobia added that Mr Hannity had chosen to support Mr Moore, and gave him a “softball interview”.
“Mr Hannity has belitted, defamed and engaged in an on-air intimidation campaign against the victims of Mr Moore,” the lawyer wrote.
She added: “It is laughable to assume that Mr Hannity is capable of conducting a fair and balanced interview. He is not known for journalistic integrity.
“He is merely seeking an opportunity to publicly attack and further defame Mr Moore’s vulnerable victims. Well that’s not happening. Not on my watch.”
The email has gone viral, racking up more than 75,000 retweets and likes on Twitter.
Fox News host @seanhannity tried to book one of Roy Moore's accusers for an on-air interview, and she replies with this EPIC response: pic.twitter.com/Y2MSavM6G2
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) November 19, 2017
Mr Hannity prompted a backlash when he said on his radio show that Mr Moore’s sexual advances towards a 14-year-old girl, when he was in his 30s, was “consensual”.
Mr Hannity has been faced with a significant slowdown in advertisers willing to place their cash with his prime time slot following a boycott campaign led by Media Matters.
The presenter apologised this week after he encouraged viewers to break their Keurig coffee machines after the company decided to stop working with the show.
His former colleague Bill O’Reilly was forced to resign after it was revealed Fox News had paid millions of dollars to settle at least six claims against him of sexual harassment, with one claim amounting to $32 million alone. The latter claim was settled one month before former employee Mr O’Reilly managed to renegotiate a new contract with the network, increasing his pay from $19 to $25 million per year.
Roger Ailes, Mr Hannity’s former boss and the late chairman of Fox News, also paid millions to settle similar claims, with $20 million alone paid to former anchor Gretchen Carlson.
The allegations of a sexist workplace culture was followed by an exodus of female anchors on the network including Megyn Kelly, Andrea Tantaros and Greta Van Susteren.
