Fox News host Martha MacCallum doesn’t appreciate being compared to a “blonde Barbie” doll.
The host of “The Story” came to the defense of herself and her colleagues at the network after a Los Angeles Times column’s sexist attack on Fox News anchors as “blond Barbies in short, tight skirts.”
MacCallum called out the writer, David Horsey, in an opinion piece for Time magazine’s “Motto” section published Wednesday calling the statement “deeply offensive.”
“Mr. Horsey has no idea what it is like to be part of this network. We work hard, get our stories right and are proud of what we do and the success we’ve achieved,” she wrote. “We’re experienced journalists and reporters, most of us have been at it a long time. Between us, we’ve worked at all the networks and most prominent newspapers and publications.”
MacCallum recounted her own career, starting at the Wall Street Journal before moving on to CNBC and NBC ahead of landing her own Fox News show.
“In my 13 years at Fox News, I have covered countless national and international stories, four presidential election cycles from beginning to end as a reporter, an anchor and a debate moderator. I now host The Story, a primetime news program, which has been number one in its time slot since it premiered,” she wrote.
“Our success is not about hair color or skirts. It’s about elbow grease, dedication and sacrificing time with our families and friends. We are fine with that, it goes with the territory,” she added.
Horsey’s column earlier this month drew much criticism for the author who took a shot at White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as not a typical example of women President Trump would want to represent him.
“Much like Roger Ailes when he was stocking the Fox News lineup with blond Barbie dolls in short, tight skirts, the president has generally exhibited a preference for sleek beauties with long legs and stiletto heels to represent his interests and act as his arm candy,” Horsey wrote. “Trump’s daughter Ivanka and wife Melania are the apotheosis of this type. By comparison, Sanders looks more like a slightly chunky soccer mom who organizes snacks for the kids’ games.”
And though he later apologized to Sanders, MacCallum believed there was more to be done.
“The women of Fox News — commodified as ‘Blonde Barbie Dolls’ — also deserve a public apology,” she wrote, noting the writer’s appearance with former Fox News host Megyn Kelly on her NBC morning show last week.
“Horsey finally expressed remorse for his comments about Fox News hosts, but did not apologize to me or any other current Fox News anchors directly,” MacCallum wrote.
She also pointed out that the column “lands hard in an ongoing national conversation about the treatment of women in the workplace.”
MacCallum acknowledged the sexual harassment claims that rocked the network but said they “felt alien” as she defended the Fox News team as people who “barely have time to eat lunch, much less engage in bad behavior.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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