Media

MacCallum: Female Fox hosts aren’t ‘blonde Barbies’

by Joe Concha - 11/15/17 4:50 PM ET

Fox News host Martha MacCallum defended female hosts on the network Wednesday, saying they are “serious women with outstanding resumes” and aren’t “blonde Barbies.”

In a piece for Time magazine’s opinion section, “Motto,” MacCallum took exception to the Los Angeles Times’s David Horsey not directly apologizing to her or other current Fox anchors after he characterized network employees as “blond Barbie dolls in short, tight skirts” in a Nov. 1 column.

The columnist initially made the remark while taking a shot at White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, arguing she isn’t the type of woman President Trump wouldn’t normally call upon to “represent his interests.”

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MacCallum noted in the op-ed Wednesday that the columnist had expressed remorse about the “Barbie” comments when pressed by former network host Megyn Kelly on her NBC morning program last week, but only did so in general terms.

“The women of Fox News — commodified as ‘Blonde Barbie Dolls’ — also deserve a public apology,” MacCallum wrote.

“Our success is not about hair color or skirts. It’s about elbow grease, dedication and sacrificing time with our families and friends. We are fine with that, it goes with the territory,” she said.

Horsey initially commented on Fox News anchors when writing about Trump’s top spokeswoman.

“Much like [former Fox News Chairman and CEO] Roger Ailes when he was stocking the Fox News lineup with blond Barbie dolls in short, tight skirts, the president has generally exhibited a preference for sleek beauties with long legs and stiletto heels to represent his interests and act as his arm candy,” wrote Horsey, who also described Sanders as looking “more like a slightly chunky soccer mom.”

After considerable blowback, Horsey apologized for the remark about Sanders.

“I want to apologize to Times readers — and to Sarah Huckabee Sanders — for a description that was insensitive and failed to meet the standards of our newspaper. It also failed to meet the expectations I have for myself,” Horsey wrote at the top of the controversial column.

“It surely won’t be my last mistake, but this particular error will be scrupulously avoided in my future commentaries. I’ve removed the offending description,” he wrote.

MacCallum, a former CNBC host and Wall Street Journal television reporter, pivoted in her op-ed to also discussing sexual harassment issues at Fox News that dominated headlines after numerous allegations led to the dismissal of Ailes, Bill O’Reilly and Eric Bolling within the span of 13 months.

“At Fox News, we faced our own realities about sexual harassment. For many, the stories we saw written about our workplace felt alien to us,” she wrote.

“The Fox News that I know and work in is a team of producers, technicians, photographers, truck operators and production managers who barely have time to eat lunch, much less engage in bad behavior,” she wrote.

“Obviously, there are well-documented exceptions. Still, as I watch these stories explode across Hollywood and Capitol Hill, I believe we are at a watershed moment in the conversation,” she concluded.

MacCallum was awarded her own 7 p.m. ET program, “The Story,” in May.

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