Fox News Apologizes For Mistaken Frank Thomas Obit

Bruce Haring and Tom Tapp
·1 min read
91

Fox News apparently thinks “ED” stands for early death.

Anyone who watches late night TV knows that 55-year-old Frank Thomas is alive and thriving. The former White Sox slugger and three-time MLB All-Star is nearly ubiquitous in male supplement commercials.

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But during a segment on Fox’s The Faulkner Focus, Thomas was shown with his year of birth and alleged year of death as 2023. However, it was another Frank Thomas who died. The actual deceased Thomas was born in 1929 and died Jan. 16, 2023. The deceased Thomas was a three-time all-star for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

To its credit, the network quickly corrected the gaffe. “We also need to quickly issue a correction in the ‘in memoriam’ feature that we showed just a few minutes ago,” guest anchor Julie Banderas said. “We misidentified the late Frank Thomas, the three-time all-star for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Frank Thomas we showed you, unfortunately, was also a former pro baseball player. He is very much alive. We apologize for that mistake.”

The living Frank Thomas was not happy with the misidentification. Hours later, he posted to Twitter, calling Fox News “irresponsible” for the mistake.

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