Less than a month after his shockingly bigoted column about diversity on Team USA at the 2018 Olympics was deleted and disowned by Fox News, John Moody, the network’s executive vice president and executive editor is gone from the network.
You know something has to be beyond over-the-top bigoted for Fox News to find it offensive but Moody’s FoxNews.com column fit the bill. Here’s an excerpt:
Unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to “Darker, Gayer, Different.” If your goal is to win medals, that won’t work.
A USOC official was quoted this week expressing pride (what else?) about taking the most diverse U.S. squad ever to the Winter Olympics. That was followed by a, frankly, embarrassing laundry list of how many African-Americans, Asians and openly gay athletes are on this year’s U.S. team. No sport that we are aware of awards points – or medals – for skin color or sexual orientation.
The column caused such an outcry that Fox removed it from its website, claiming, it "does not reflect views or values of Fox News."
Now, just after the Olympics have ended, Moody has left Fox News. According to CNN, his departure has nothing to do with the column or the disappointing medal count for Team USA. CNN reports:
A person close to the situation said Moody had planned on retiring before his recent column drew outrage.
[…]
Though he retained the title until his recent exit, people familiar with his role said it was largely ceremonial and that he had little power in recent years.
(John Moody image via screen grab.)