Former Fox News star Megyn Kelly is very upset over the way several media outlets have framed Fox Corporation’s recent purchase of Red Seat Ventures, a media company that produces and markets podcasts by a number of conservative personalities — including Kelly.
“We are 100% INDEPENDENT,” Kelly raged in one tweet, while lashing out in another post about the “misleading BS” that her show’s “home” was acquired by Fox.
After months of speculation that Rupert Murdoch’s media empire would expand its investment in the podcast space, which included eyeing a potential acquisition of The Daily Wire, Fox announced on Monday morning that it had reached a deal with the buzzy startup Red Seat Ventures.
Besides Kelly, Red Seat’s client list includes former Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Bill O’Reilly, who were both the conservative cable giant’s top-rated anchors before they were fired and lost their primetime Fox News programs. Additionally, Red Seat works with several true crime podcasts and British tabloid journalist Piers Morgan, who moved his daily show from Murdoch’s News UK and the digital streaming service Fox Nation to YouTube last year.
According to The New York Times, the deal will allow Red Seat and its founding partners, Chris and Kevin Balfe, to “operate independently within Fox’s Tubi Media Group,” which is Fox Corp’s digital and streaming arm. The purchase also comes after the New York Post, another Murdoch media property, commissioned Red Seat to help the paper develop a new podcast.
“The deal means that Mr. Carlson and Mr. O’Reilly — former Fox News stars who both lost their shows — will once again be tied to the Murdoch universe, albeit at a remove. (The same goes for Ms. Kelly, who rose to fame on Fox News before leaving for NBC in 2017.) Because Red Seat is only a service provider, none of the three will be paid by Fox or report to its executives,” the Times reported. “In addition, Tubi Media and Fox News are housed in separate divisions of the Fox Corporation.”
Kelly, meanwhile, took exception to other publications’ reporting that she felt suggested she was back on the Fox News payroll.
“To be clear, Red Seat sells ads for our show. They do not ‘create content’ for us as Variety [reporter Brian Steinberg] claim[s],” she wrote while sharing a Variety story on the deal. “My producers & I do that. Nor does Red Seat have any ownership in our show which is owned 100% by me. Happy for Fox & Red Seat but it has virtually nothing to do with me.”
She had a bigger issue with TheWrap’s report on the purchase, which described Red Seat as the “home” to her and other Fox News alumni.
“Look at this misleading BS,” Kelly tweeted. “No one has acquired my show’s ‘home.’ The 3d party firm that sells my ADS has been acquired. Thats all. The @MegynKellyShow is NOT controlled or owned by anyone other than ME.”
The ex-Fox News host was also upset over a passage in a Reuters’ story on the deal, which stated that she, Carlson and O’Reilly were “back in the Murdoch fold” following the acquisition of Red Seat.
“NO, it doesn’t,” she posted. “We are 100% INDEPENDENT. Fox bought the co that sells our ads, period.”
Following the purchase of Red Seat, Fox announced that the Tubi CEO Paul Cheesbrough will become the chairman of Red Seat. “The creator economy is one of the fastest growing media categories worldwide by measure of reach and influence, and consumers are increasingly looking to get their information, insights, and entertainment directly from the voices and brands they trust across these platforms,” Cheesbrough said in a statement.
“Working with two outstanding entrepreneurs like Chris and Kevin, we see tremendous opportunities to drive additional scale in genres such as sports, news, and entertainment and look forward to supporting the continued growth of this business,” he added.
