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MacCallum Responds to LA Times Column: Female Fox News Anchors Are Not 'Blonde Barbie Dolls'

Moderators Martha MacCallum (R) and Bill Hemmer (L) wait for the beginning of the first forum of the Fox News (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
November 16, 2017

Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum said cartoonist and political commentator David Horsey owes her and her fellow blonde female Fox News hosts an apology for his comments in a recent Los Angeles Times column.

While Horsey's piece was directly aimed at criticizing Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, she wasn't the only individual he cast a critical eye toward. In a column of her own with Time media outlet, Motto, MacCallum called out Horsey for his description of female Fox News Channel anchors as "blonde barbie dolls."

"Much like Roger Ailes when he was stocking the Fox News lineup with blonde 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 interest and act as his arm candy," Horsey wrote in the aforementioned column. "Trump’s daughter Ivanka and wife Melania are the apotheosis of this type. By comparison, [Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee] Sanders looks more like a slightly chunky soccer mom who organizes snacks for the kids’ games."

Later, when called upon for comment, Horsey added an apology to Sanders in the column. MacCallum, however, feels the female Fox News hosts deserve a direct apology as well, saying his expressed remorse for his comments was not enough.

MacCallum wrote that "Horsey has no idea what it is like to be part of this network."

We "work hard, get out stories right, and are proud of what we do and the success we’ve achieved," MacCallum added.

"The Story" host said Horsey’s Times piece comes at a particularly bad time because of the "ongoing national conversation about the treatment of women in the workplace" and "our own realities about sexual harassment."

"Early in my career, I was subjected to harassment in the form of some unwelcome suggestive comments and overtures," MacCallum wrote. "It saddens me that it still goes on in such a widespread way … I believe that this national conversation will lead us to a better place."