Ex-Fox News Producer Files New Claim That Network Pressured Her to Lie Under Oath
Abby Grossberg filed a pair of lawsuits last week alleging that her employer, Fox News, manipulated her into giving misleading testimony to investigators in the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit, while also subjecting her to a culture of rampant misogyny. She was fired from her role as booking producer for Tucker Carlson Tonight a few days later, and is now making new allegations against the network.
Grossberg is claiming a Sept. 14 deposition she gave in the Dominion suit was inauthentic given how Fox News was “fraudulently inducing her to deny facts she knew to exist” and otherwise lie about the network was handling warnings from the voting systems company. She is seeking to correct the deposition in light of this alleged coercion.
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“Based on what I understood and took away from the deposition preparation sessions I had with Fox’s legal team which were coercive and intimidating … I felt that I had to do everything possible to avoid becoming the ‘star witness’ for Dominion or else I would be seriously jeopardizing my career at Fox News and would be subjected to worse terms and conditions of employment than male employees as I understood it,” Grossberg wrote in the amended complaint, which was filed on Monday.
Grossberg was a producer for Maria Bartiromo’s show in the aftermath of the 2020 election, and moved to Tucker Carlson Tonight last September. She alleged in the suit last week that she received harassing emails from Carlson’s senior staff, and that staff regularly held discussions about women in sexist terms, regularly invoking the term “cunt.” Grossberg claimed in the filing on Monday that the network’s sexism was present in its response to the Dominion case, as well, and that while male colleagues were allowed to review their depositions transcripts, she wasn’t able to see hers despite repeatedly requesting it.
Grossberg’s lawyers described Grossberg’s firing on Friday was the “latest act of thinly veiled retaliation,” according to NBC News.
“Like most organizations, Fox News Media’s attorneys engage in privileged communications with our employees as necessary to provide legal advice,” a Fox News spokespersons said in a statement. “Last week, our attorneys advised Ms. Grossberg that, while she was free to file whatever legal claims she wished, she was in possession of our privileged information and was not authorized to disclose it publicly. We were clear that if she violated our instructions, Fox would take appropriate action including termination. Ms. Grossberg ignored these communications and chose to file her complaint without taking any steps to protect those portions containing Fox’s privileged information. We will continue to vigorously defend Fox against Ms. Grossberg’s unmeritorious legal claims, which are riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees.”
Dominion is suing Fox News for $1.6 billion for pushing a false narrative about the company using its voting machines to rig the election. Court records have revealed that it was well known throughout the network, from its executives to its primetime hosts, that there was no evidence to support conspiracy theories about a rigged election. The network fueled the narrative anyway, largely, the records make clear, because it helped ratings.
Grossberg alleged in the filing on Monday that she was instructed to says she “did not recall” any discussions about ratings.
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