On Tuesday, Fox News host Greg Gutfeld addressed his dispute last week with Benjamin Hall, a correspondent for the network who was injured on Monday while reporting on the ground in Ukraine.
Gutfeld did not apologize for his remarks about his colleague, but claimed he had spoken to Hall over the phone last week about their “little kerfuffle.”
He referenced the incident after co-host Geraldo Rivera offered his heartfelt condolences and prayers for Hall ― who Rivera said had been “grievously injured” ― along with two other Fox News colleagues who died in an attack Monday in Ukraine.
“I want to talk about Ben, but first, the fact that Joe [Biden] is announcing that he’s going to Europe ― next week ― no!” Gutfeld said, launching into a spiel criticizing the president’s handling of the Ukraine crisis.
“As for Ben, I spoke to him last week at length after we had our little kerfuffle,” Gutfeld continued. “And the thing that pisses me off most about him is that he’s handsome and he’s funny.”
Last Tuesday, Gutfeld suggested the media was trying to inspire an “emotional response” to the war in Ukraine because “that makes a profit for news companies.”
From Kyiv, Hall pushed back.
“Speaking as someone on the ground, I want to say that this is not the media trying to drum up some emotional response,” he said. “This is absolutely what’s happening.”
Gutfeld later called Hall’s comments a “cheap attack” and doubled down on his assertions about a one-sided narrative in the coverage of Ukraine.
On Monday, Fox News announced that Hall had been hospitalized while reporting outside Kyiv. The network said Tuesday that its cameraman, Pierre Zakrzewski, was killed in the same attack, as was Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova, who was working as a consultant for Fox News.
On Tuesday, Gutfeld said that he and Hall had “joked about” their on-air debate last week and that Hall had said, “‘Greg, you can’t do my job, and I can’t do yours.’”
“And I said, ‘duh,’” Gutfeld continued. “My job is way easier. I’m not in any danger. I do get death threats, but they’re usually from Dana,” he said, joking about his colleague Dana Perino.
“But ... We can afford to pontificate because we’re here, thousands of miles away.”