Jeanine Pirro is a former New York state judge and the current host of Fox News primetime program Justice with Judge Jeanine. She’s also a prolific public speaker who is popular among conservative audiences.
However, Media Matters reports that a number of events at which she was scheduled to appear have been “mysteriously cancelled.”
The left-wing group recently ran an article claiming that seven of Pirro’s events were called off without explanation.
Unexplained cancellations
The most recent of Pirro’s cancelled events was scheduled to take place near Fresno, California on Oct. 15.
The Fresno Bee reported that the event, for which tickets were priced at $5, would feature other speakers in addition to Pirro and was organized by the Valley Young Republican political action committee. However, the event’s Facebook post has been removed and its ticket page now has a message that reads, “This Event Has Ended.”
Media Matters provided a list of other events featuring Pirro that have similarly been cancelled. They include engagements in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Washington state. The explanations given include “unexpected circumstances,” “a scheduling conflict,” and that the former judge had “something come up.”
However, one event host pointed to another reason for the cancellation.
Network ban on “partisan” events
Pirro was supposed to attend an October fundraiser for Jexit, an organization that encourages Jewish Americans to leave the Democratic Party. According to Media Matters, the group’s Facebook page declared, “Fox News insisted Jeanine cancel the #JEXIT benefit because we support President Trump.”
Fox News’ official policy is to “not condone any talent participating in partisan campaign events.” Pirro has recently expressed frustration that the network is limiting her speaking opportunities, complaining on Dr. Sebastian Gorka’s radio show that “Fox reviews everything. They’re unbelievable.”
She went on to say that she had been banned from appearing on Bill O’Reilly’s podcast or talking to media outlet Newsmax.
A double standard?
If executives at Fox News are enforcing a policy that prohibits public involvement in political campaigns, then they don’t appear to be doing so in a terribly consistent manner.
Fellow primetime host Sean Hannity regularly participates in campaign activities and has even appeared on stage at one of President Trump’s rallys. Earlier this year, Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz announced that Hannity would be appearing alongside him and Gov. Ron DeSantis at an event in Pensacola.
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