Jeanine Pirro, Fox News Blame Erratic At-Home Show on 'Technical Difficulties' — While Gretchen Carlson Criticizes TV Host

From Yahoo! Entertainment

FOX News and Jeanine Pirro are speaking out after an erratic broadcast Saturday night prompted speculation that the Justice with Judge Jeanine host was under the influence.


As Mediaite reports, the 68-year-old former prosecutor and New York State judge’s show was delayed 15 minutes thanks to “technical problems.” But once on-air, Pirro — broadcasting from home due to the coronavirus pandemic — appeared out of sorts, her hair tousled. At one point she cracked to guest Lisa Boothe, appearing via satellite from her parents’ home, “I’ll just tell you, I can’t see you, so everything looks different to me. We should just call each other.”

The clips — which also saw music playing over Boothe’s final remarks — raised eyebrows online, with commenters floating the theory that Pirro was intoxicated.

The TV personality waded in to set the record straight after one commenter said she had “drunk girl hair.” Pirro explained that an IFB (interruptible foldback, a sort of intercom system used by broadcasters) had snagged in her hair. She added that her location was “not prepared to broadcast” due to a lack of connection, teleprompter or visual aids (such as a monitor beaming in Boothe and other guests).

Fox News also issued a statement blaming the issues on “several technical difficulties.”

“Jeanine Pirro was broadcasting from her home for the first time when she encountered several technical difficulties which impacted the quality of her show, including the loss of a teleprompter,” the network said. “As we have previously said, we are operating with a reduced staff working remotely to ensure the health and safety of our employees in these unprecedented times.”

A source close to the network also told Yahoo that Pirro does not drink

Among those weighing in on the incident-plagued show was former Fox News personality Gretchen Carlson, whose 2016 departure from the network was swiftly followed by a lawsuit in which she accused then-CEO Roger Ailes of sexual harassment. Ailes, who died in 2017, resigned, while Carlson settled her suit for $20 million.

Sharing a clip from Yahoo syndication partner The Wrap, Carlson hit out at Pirro for not being “one to support other women,” a reference to the sexual harassment complaints filed by her and other women at Fox. She also speculated whether Pirro would leave the network, which last week parted ways with Fox Business host Trish Regan following uproar over her comments calling the coronavirus to “another attempt to impeach the president.”