Television host Sean Hannity is defending Fox News co-president Bill Shine on Twitter after a published report suggested Shine’s future at the network is in question.
“Gäbe i pray this is NOT true because if it is, that’s the total end of the FNC as we know it. Done. Best Sean,” Hannity tweeted Thursday, linking to a New York magazine story by Gabe Sherman, per Variety. The article cites anonymous sources who reveal Shine is concerned about a shakeup in management at Fox over a perceived lack of public support for him from leaders Rupert, Lachlan, and James Murdoch.
Hannity went on to tweet that somebody “HIGH UP AND INSIDE FNC” is trying to get an “innocent person fired.”
“And Gabe I KNOW WHO it is,” Hannity added, launching the hashtag #Istandwithbill, then later altering it to #Istandwithshine to clarify his support for Shine, and not recently ousted cable news king Bill O’Reilly.
Shine was mentioned, along with several other top executives, in a class-action lawsuit filed this week by 11 former and current Fox News employees and contributors who allege that racial discrimination ran rampant within the company. The lawsuit landed on the heels of O’Reilly’s firing from the network following a mountain of sexual harassment charges. In July, Fox News chief Roger Ailes was let go over his own sexual harassment scandal. Shine and fellow co-president Jack Abernethy took over the network after Ailes’ departure.
Read the full report in New York magazine here.
—RealClearLife
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