Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” host Tucker Carlson ripped NBC News head Noah Oppenheim for the claim his organization “encouraged” Ronan Farrow to report out the sexual harassment allegations aimed at Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Carlson explained why NBC News was “lying” about two facets of its claim, noting Farrow’s remarks explaining why he took the story to The New Yorker magazine instead of having had NBC News run it.
“So let’s be clear – NBC is lying,” Carlson said. “Yesterday, news division head Noah Oppenheim claimed NBC, quote ‘encouraged Farrow to report that story.” The opposite is true. They pressured him to drop it. Oppenheim says, quote ‘NBC gave him resources to report the story over many, many months.’ Maybe except for a camera crew when Farrow tried to interview an alleged rape victim. Oppenheim says, quote ‘Farrow’s story was not the story we were looking at when we made our judgment.’ Yet another lie. As Farrow told Rachel Maddow two night ago, he finished the bulk of his reporting on Weinstein when he went to The New Yorker. That is why the magazine accepted his piece in the first place.”
After playing highlights from Farrow’s appearance on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” earlier this week, Carlson went on to point out Oppenheim had not been upfront about any possible business relationship he had with Weinstein, which may have impacted his editorial decisionmaking regarding the story.
“We’d bet money that her employer didn’t want Rachel Maddow to do that segment, but she did it anyway. Good for her. So, why did a purported news organization killer a blockbuster news story? Well, presumably we will find out at some point. This is a scandal, and the truth has a way of emerging from those in the end. One possible explanation is Noah Oppenheim. In addition to being the head of NBC News, Oppenheim is a Hollywood screenwriter with deep ties to the movie business and the Democratic Party establishment. Could it be that Oppenheim had a business relationship with Harvey Weinstein or Weinstein’s Company? It is not a far-fetched possibility as all. And yet, as of earlier today, Oppenheim and NBC when asked directly refused to say. Noah Oppenheim ought to resign immediately, and if he doesn’t, he ought to be fired immediately by NBC’s parent company, Comcast. News executives are not allowed to tell lies. They are not allowed to participate in cover-ups. They ought to answer straightforward questions straightforwardly when they don’t, you know they are corrupt. And that is exactly what NBC News is.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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