Amid a contract dispute with Fox News, the host of the popular daytime show “Outnumbered” Melissa Francis has reportedly been fired, according to a source.
She has been off the air since October 7, and someone close to Francis told The Los Angeles Times that she has been fired.
Francis had been working without a contract for over a year and had claimed she was underpaid compared to her male counterparts, the Times reported. She had filed a gender-based pay discrimination claim against the network that is still in arbitration.
The network has not announced any firing, however.
“Changes” are “independent” of other matters, Fox says
“Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes, including to its daytime lineup, and will launch new formats as appropriate after the election,” the representative said in a statement. “These changes are being made independent of any other ongoing matter.”
Others familiar with the matter said that Francis was not likely to return to the Fox lineup, but requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment.
Fox News has been working on its employment practices including revamping its mandatory harassment and discrimination prevention compliance training and was recently certified by Great Places to Work for those efforts. The network was quick to fire anchor Ed Henry earlier this year after a female colleague accused him of harassment.
In a recent tweet, Francis predicted that President Donald Trump will win re-election.
Trump will win. 💯. I’m not advocating, I’m telling you to mentally prepare. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
— Melissa Francis (@MelissaAFrancis) October 18, 2020
Francis ascended to Fox News
Francis started her television career as a child actress, appearing on later episodes of Little House on the Prairie and some 100 total shows and commercials.
She later got an economics degree from Harvard and began as a contributor for CNBC before joining Fox Business Network in 2012. By 2014, she began hosting “Outnumbered” on Fox News in a recurring capacity.
“She has a playful yet inquisitive edge to her that makes her different than the die-cast cable anchors,” Piers Morgan Tonight executive producer Jonathan Wald, who worked with Francis at CNBC, said of her as she transitioned to Fox Business.
The post Melissa Francis reportedly fired from Fox News amid contract dispute first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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