Ex-Fox News Staffer Caught Up In Dominion Suit Says Fox ‘Destroys People’

Abby Grossberg says she was coerced into protecting the network, where misogynistic staffers adorned walls with swimsuit-clad Nancy Pelosi images.
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The Fox News producer fired after she sued the network this month told NBC News she was being set up as “the fall guy” in Dominion Voting Systems’ massive defamation lawsuit against Fox.

Abby Grossberg, who worked for hosts Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson in her time at Fox, described in the interview a toxic work environment where she was “bullied” by Fox lawyers into protecting the conservative network by giving misleading answers in her deposition for the Dominion case. She corrected some of her answers in the deposition earlier this month.

“They’re a big corporate machine that destroys people,” Grossberg said of her former employer.

“I sat in those meetings,” she continued. “I heard them laugh about tearing apart politicians. Now I know that in those meetings, they’re talking about me.”

The full interview will air Thursday evening on “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.”

Fox News told HuffPost that Grossberg was fired for publicly disclosing “privileged information” about the Dominion suit.

“Our attorneys advised Ms. Grossberg that, while she was free to file whatever legal claims she wished, she was in possession of our privileged information and was not authorized to disclose it publicly. We were clear that if she violated our instructions, Fox would take appropriate action including termination,” a spokesperson said. “Ms. Grossberg ignored these communications and chose to file her complaint without taking any steps to protect those portions containing Fox’s privileged information.”

Grossberg told NBC that the culture at Fox was deeply misogynistic, recalling how colleagues had pinned up photos of Nancy Pelosi in a bathing suit and openly talked about female politicians’ sex appeal. She said that working there took such a toll on her mental health that she contemplated self-harm, leading her to take medical leave earlier this year.

Dominion is suing Fox News for $1.6 billion for promoting the false theory that its systems were used to rig the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden.

Grossberg sat for her deposition in September. She told NBC that beforehand, Fox lawyers had threatened her by implying that they might have evidence of criminal activity on her phone or in her emails.

She said she complied with the lawyers, and colleagues praised her by celebrating “Abby Day.”

“I made the decision to keep my job so that I can keep paying my bills,” Grossberg told the outlet.

She added that it was “really, really terrifying to think that you could be the fall guy in perhaps the biggest media case the country’s ever had.”

Fox News disputes that its lawyers ever pressured Grossberg into giving false testimony.

“The assertion that Ms. Grossberg was coached or intimidated into being dishonest during her Dominion deposition is patently false,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to vigorously defend Fox against her unmeritorious legal claims, which are riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees.”

Grossberg said executives were also angling to throw Bartiromo “under the bus.”

Copies of Fox executives’ emails and other communications in court records have already provided evidence that the network’s leadership knew the accusations against Dominion were baseless. But with newer right-wing networks like Newsmax threatening Fox’s ratings, executives appeared willing to give their viewers the type of content they craved no matter the cost, according to the lawsuit.

The defamation trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on April 13, although Dominion has asked a Delaware judge to issue a summary judgment in its favor.

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