Sunday's Los Angeles Times included an interview with Greg Gutfeld, host of Fox News Channel's Red Eye and a co-host of The Five. Irene Lacher asked Gutfeld what he had to say to "critics of Fox News who regard it as a tool of the right wing?"
He denounced them as intolerant hypocrites, that they claim to represent the open-minded, but cannot stand it when they come across people who disagree with them:
What do you have to say to critics of Fox News who regard it as a tool of the right wing?
I always love questions like that, because no one ever says, "I don't like Fox News." They say, "What do you say to the critics?" In the old days, major media was outrageously liberal, but they owned all the players on the teams, they owned the ball, they owned the stadium. And when Fox News shows up to play, everyone else wants to take the ball and go home. You hear nothing but whining about Fox News because they're kicking everybody's butt. And I love that. The people who whine about Fox News are hypocrites — they say they're totally tolerant, but when they run into someone who doesn't share their assumptions, they say, "Fox News is evil, and it must be stopped."
You had quite a cyber tiff last month with Adam Levine, when he tweeted that he wanted Fox News to stop playing his music.
I have to say that Adam Levine is truly a daring young man to go on Twitter to bash Fox News. He's so rebellious, so subversive. I mean, for a musician, seriously, could you find a more predictable stance than that? He's as edgy as a hacky sack, which also describes his music. So I went on there basically to lower the bar of discourse. If he's going to rag on Fox News, I'm going to make stupid jokes about him.
Lacher asked if Gutfeld has a hard time booking major guests on his overnight show (at 3 am Eastern). He said he wasn't trying, and then launched into how many celebrities are politically under-developed:
Not really, because I don't actively look for them...
But in terms of celebrities, I don't care what they think on issues. And "Red Eye" is a topic-driven show. Celebrities tend to live in a plastic bubble all their lives, and suddenly in their late 20s, when they've made all their money they feel really guilty because they're incredibly wealthy. Also they feel vacuous, so they latch onto easy causes like the environment. Even worthy causes, but they attach themselves to them superficially. They actually hurt the causes that they join. I think they lead a stunted existence, where they didn't go through the normal intellectual growth that everybody else has.
