Greg Gutfeld

Gregory Gutfeld (born September 12, 1964) is an American television producer, commentator, author, editor, and comedian. He is the host of The Greg Gutfeld Show and one of five co-hosts and panelists on the political talk show The Five, both on the Fox News Channel. Previously, Gutfeld hosted Red Eye, also on the Fox News Channel.[1] Gutfeld is a registered Libertarian and is self-described as non-religious.[2]

Greg Gutfeld
Gutfeld in August 2020
Born (1964-09-12) September 12, 1964
San Mateo, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
OccupationTelevision personality
Known for
Political partyLibertarian
Spouse(s)
Elena Moussa
​
(m. 2004)​

Early life and education

Gutfeld was born in San Mateo, California, the son of Jacqueline Bernice "Jackie" (née Cauhape) and Alfred Jack Gutfeld.[3] He attended Junípero Serra High School[4] and the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1987 with a B.A. in English.[5][6]

In a 2009 interview, Gutfeld explained that he started to experience a change in his political thinking while he was attending UC Berkeley:[7]

I became a conservative by being around liberals (at UC Berkeley) and I became a libertarian by being around conservatives. You realize that there's something distinctly in common between the two groups, the left and the right; the worst part of each of them is the moralizing.

Career

After college, Gutfeld had an internship at The American Spectator, as an assistant to conservative writer R. Emmett Tyrrell. He then worked as a staff writer at Prevention magazine and in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, as an editor at various Rodale Press magazines. In 1995 he became a staff writer at Men's Health. He was promoted to editor in chief of Men's Health in 1999. A year later, he was replaced by David Zinczenko.

Gutfeld then became editor in chief of Stuff, then owned by Dennis Publishing. During his tenure, circulation increased from 750,000 to 1.2 million. In 2003, Gutfeld hired several dwarfs to attend a conference of the Magazine Publishers of America on the topic of "buzz", with instructions to be as loud and annoying as possible. The stunt generated publicity but led to Gutfeld being fired soon afterward; he then became head of "brain development" at Dennis Publishing. [6] He edited the company's Maxim magazine in the UK from 2004 to 2006.[6] Gutfeld's contract expired without renewal after losses in readership under his tenure.[8]

Gutfeld was one of the first posting contributors to The Huffington Post from its launch in 2005 until October 2008, frequent targets of his sarcasm included his colleagues Deepak Chopra, Cenk Uygur, Arianna Huffington, and Huffington Post bloggers. Many of his Huffington Post commentaries/blogs are available on its website.[9]

Beginning on February 5, 2007, Gutfeld hosted the hour-long Fox News Channel late-night program, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. From 2007 to 2013, Bill Schulz served as Gutfeld's sidekick and Andy Levy as the show's ombudsman. Schulz had been Gutfeld's colleague at Stuff magazine and Levy was a fellow blogger at The Huffington Post. On July 11, 2011, Gutfeld became a co-host/panelist on the Fox News political opinion discussion program The Five, which airs weekdays at 5:00 p.m. ET.[10] Gutfeld left Red Eye in February 2015, to host a new weekend show on Fox News.[11] On May 31, 2015, Gutfeld began his own late-night show on Fox News called The Greg Gutfeld Show; the show airs at 10:00 p.m. ET on Saturdays.

Controversial remarks

Apology to Canadians

In a five-minute segment broadcast on March 17, 2009, Gutfeld and his panel discussed Canadian Lieutenant General Andrew Leslie's statement that the Canadian Armed Forces may require a one-year "synchronized break" once Canada's mission in Afghanistan ended in 2011.[12] "Meaning, the Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants," Gutfeld said.[12] "I didn't even know they were in the war", comedian panelist Doug Benson added, then continued, "I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight. Go chill in Canada."[12] Gutfeld also said: "Isn't this the perfect time to invade this ridiculous country? They have no army!"[12]

The segment drew wide attention and outrage in Canada after being posted on YouTube following the reported deaths of four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan three days earlier.[13][14][15] Canada, at the time, had been in command of the NATO mission in the Kandahar Province, the birthplace and former capital of the Taliban, for the preceding three years.[16] Along with the Helmand Province, the two provinces were "home to some of the fiercest opposition to coalition forces" and reported to "have the highest casualty rates per province."[17]

Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay called on Fox to apologize for the satirical comments, describing the remarks as "despicable, hurtful and ignorant."[18] Gutfeld in response maintained the show is satirical and irreverent[19] but offered the following apology: "The March 17 episode of Red Eye included a segment discussing Canada's plan for a 'synchronized break,' which was in no way an attempt to make light of troop efforts. However, I realize that my words may have been misunderstood. It was not my intent to disrespect the brave men, women and families of the Canadian military, and for that I apologize."[18]

Ground Zero mosque

On August 9, 2010, Gutfeld stated that he planned on constructing New York City's first Islamic-friendly gay bar next to the Park51 Islamic community center.[20][21][22][23][24]

Personal life

As of 2018, Gutfeld resides in New York City with his wife Elena.[7][25]

Gutfeld was raised Roman Catholic and once was an altar boy.[26] He describes himself as an "agnostic atheist".[25]

A fan of hard rock and heavy metal music, Gutfeld has spoken on-air about being a fan of many bands, including Power Trip. Gutfeld paid tribute to Power Trip's singer Riley Gale after his death in 2020. [27]

Books
Gutfeld at a book signing for his book Not Cool (March 2014)
  • The Scorecard: The Official Point System for Keeping Score in the Relationship Game. Henry Holt and Company. 1997. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-8050-5450-7.
  • The Scorecard at Work: The Official Point System for Keeping Score on the Job. Henry Holt and Company. 1999. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-8050-5865-9.
  • Lessons from the Land of Pork Scratchings. Simon & Schuster. 2008. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-84737-066-2.
  • The Bible of Unspeakable Truths. Grand Central Publishing. 2010. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-446-55230-1.
  • The Joy of Hate: How to Triumph over Whiners in the Age of Phony Outrage. New York: Crown Forum. 2012. p. 256. ISBN 978-0307986962.
  • Not Cool: The Hipster Elite and Their War on You. New York: Crown Forum. 2014. p. 272. ISBN 978-0804138536.
  • How To Be Right: The Art of Being Persuasively Correct. New York: Crown Forum. 2015. ISBN 978-1101903629.
  • The Gutfeld Monologues: Classic Rants from the Five. New York: Threshold Editions. 2018. ISBN 978-1501190728.
  • The Plus: Self-Help for People Who Hate Self-Help. Threshold Editions. 2020. ISBN 978-1982149918.

See also

References
  1. Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. March 7, 2013. Fox News.
  2. Weingarten, Benjamin (March 21, 2014). "'Non-religious' Fox anchor makes an interesting admission about the church". The Blaze.
  3. "Jacqueline "Jackie" Gutfeld Obituary – San Mateo, California". Sneider & Sullivan & O'Connell's Funeral Home at Tributes.com. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  4. Bluey, Robert B. (June 16, 2006). "Q&A With Greg Gutfeld: The Cool Conservative". Human Events.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
  5. "On Air Personalities: Greg Gutfeld". Fox News Channel. March 1, 2012.
  6. Gurley, George (May 22, 2007). "Red Eye for the Straight Guy". The New York Observer. Observer Media Group. Archived from the original on March 28, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
  7. Mangu-Ward, Katherine (October 2009). "'What You're Left With Is Libertarianism'". Reason. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  8. Farey-Jones, Daniel (March 10, 2006). "Gutfeld leaves Maxim after circulation dropped 16.2%". Brand Republic.
  9. "Greg Gutfeld". The Huffington Post.
  10. "The Five". Fox News.
  11. Steinberg, Brian (February 26, 2015). "Fox News Channel Developing Weekend Program for Greg Gutfeld". Variety. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  12. "Fox host lampoons Canadian military's synchronized break during wartime". CBC News. March 23, 2009. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  13. "Fox News mocks Canadian military". Cnews.canoe.ca. March 22, 2009. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  14. Kathleen Harris, National Bureau Chief (March 22, 2009). "U.S. talk show ridicules Canadian soldiers | News". Toronto Sun. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  15. "Fox News host apologizes for mocking Canadian military_English_Xinhua". News.xinhuanet.com. March 24, 2009. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  16. Susan Sachs (July 7, 2011). "Canada transfers command in Kandahar to U.S." The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  17. Manav Tanneeru and Lindsey Knight (October 3, 2011). "The Afghan war 10 years later: A look at the numbers". CNN. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  18. "Fox host apologizes for mocking of Canadian Forces". CBC News. March 23, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  19. Greg Gutfeld (February 8, 2010). "Many quotes of Gutfeld, Schulz and Levy harshly lampooning each other during three years of Red Eye". Fox News Channel. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  20. "Fox Newser: I'm Opening Gay Bar Next To Mosque". August 10, 2010.
  21. Jordan Carr (August 10, 2010). "Fox News Host Proposes Muslim Gay Bar Next to Ground Zero Mosque". Aolnews.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
  22. "'glenn Beck': Greg Gutfeld Wants To Build Gay Bar Next To 'ground Zero' Mosque". August 11, 2010.
  23. Gutfeld, Greg (August 19, 2010). "Left's Tired Response To Ground Zero Mosque".
  24. Fermino, Jennifer (August 11, 2010). "Erecting a gay bar next door to Park51". New York Post.
  25. "Red Eye 8-15-2011". Fox News Radio. August 15, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2012. (Minute 5:44) If there was something that could do this then I wouldn't be an agnostic slash atheist.. (Minute 6:10) I wish this stuff was true because then that would validate my religious beliefs which that I do not have any which have kind of faded away
  26. Greg Gutfeld: The Bible of Unspeakable Truths. Hachette Book Group, May 25, 2010.
  27. https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/music/fox-news-host-greg-gutfeld-pays-tribute-to-riley-gale-of-power-trip-2739482

Sources
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