Gabriel Sherman: Hannity Is ‘Likely Going To Stay At Fox’

Gabriel Sherman revealed last night that his sources indicate that Sean Hannity will probably not be leaving Fox News. This contradicts other reporting that we wrote about. Updated.

As I posted yesterday, The Daily Beast reported that Hannity was likely to follow his buddy Bill Shine out the door. Shine, the former co-president of Fox and “longtime lieutenant” to scandal-ridden ex-CEO Roger Ailes, resigned yesterday after being implicated in the tsunami of sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuits that have plagued the network.

But Sherman told MSNBC host Chris Hayes last night that Hannity is likely to stay.

HAYES: Other people are reporting that he’s [Hannity] eyeing an exit from Fox News.

SHERMAN: By all accounts, that’s not true. Hannity is likely gonna stay at Fox.

For what it’s worth, my money is on Sherman. However, Shine’s departure clearly does not sit well with Hannity. Sherman called it “a blow to loyalists like Hannity who see their rabbi, in Shine, leaving.”

Sherman also said that more lawsuits are on the way. While discussing reporter Diana Falzone’s lawsuit, Sherman saw no light at the end of the tunnel for Fox:

SHERMAN: This case and others, which will be coming, that I understand, in the weeks to come, is a scandal that’s just not ending and for me, as a reporter, you wonder where the story goes and it’s hard to know how the Murdochs can get themselves out of this because Roger Ailes, for 20 years, created a culture that was a reflection of him. And you can’t just remove a few pieces and think that it changes. I mean, this has to be a wholesale housecleaning and a reformation of a culture that was very entrenched.

Watch Sherman below, from MSNBC’s May 1, 2017 All in with Chris Hayes.

UPDATE (3:14 PM): According to Politico, Hannity called a rare staff meeting for everyone working on his television show.

UPDATE (6:08 PM): Apparently, the meeting was a pizza party where Hannity told staff he's not negotiating leaving. Query: is the phrase "not negotiating leaving" parsing? According to Sherman, Hannity has a "key man clause" in his contract that would allow him to quit. Maybe there's nothing to negotiate?

🚨 🍕 from source at meeting @seanhannity staff pizza party - where he told them he's not negotiating leaving, thanked them for their work pic.twitter.com/tQBIVKIFdk
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) May 2, 2017

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Showing 10 reactions

commented 2017-05-04 00:49:49 -0400 · Flag

Personally, I have a hard time seeing Hannity in Texas but given that he’s such an expert on the border, maybe he’ll help out the patrol… from his rich perch hundreds of miles away in (probably) Dallas.

commented 2017-05-04 00:48:38 -0400 · Flag

Jane S, Before Shine left (but Hannity probably knew it was coming) a guest said something about how he should go with a new conservative network and Hannity said, briefly but pointedly, “maybe I will.”

commented 2017-05-03 03:44:03 -0400 · Flag

Hannity needs the public perch and the large adoring audience more than he needs the bucks, since he’s already fabulously rich.

One thing I wonder is whether he’s contemplating leaving NYC for someplace like Texas, which is entirely doable while staying at Fox, and which he’s mused out loud about doing for years now. It is possible there’s been some talk at Fox about that which led the DailyBeast person to misunderstand. Leaving NYC does not mandate leaving Fox, and there would certainly require some o’ those “negotiations” to carry it off.

He was, I thought, suspiciously happy on Monday night, just hours after losing BFF Schine. So I bet something is up.

commented 2017-05-03 01:07:38 -0400 · Flag

Oh goody. Maybe we can have a jolly old waterboarding to celebrate…

commented 2017-05-02 18:37:47 -0400 · Flag

Think about it. What major media outlet would hire this clown other than Fux? Answer: None.
KKKlannity will be around until his contract expires and the Murdoch boys show him the door.

commented 2017-05-02 16:58:07 -0400 · Flag

Oh he might not leave at this moment but he will be leaving in the near future

commented 2017-05-02 16:47:14 -0400 · Flag

If he leaves False news his career will die. He’s only staying so his fact free face can still be seen.

commented 2017-05-02 15:32:40 -0400 · Flag

That’s a shame. I was hoping to see him in financial ruin. That would make my life complete.

commented 2017-05-02 15:11:25 -0400 · Flag

Hannity is the only thing left at Fox worth watching. He would be crazy to stick around that nuthouse with those commie Murdoch boys in charge. It can only get worse and worse over time.

commented 2017-05-02 14:49:32 -0400 · Flag

Not a surprise that Hannity is staying for now. His smug attitude last night indicated as much. But as we noted in the other thread, he really doesn’t have a choice. No legitimate network will take him, and going with any startup or better yet, with Newsmax, would mean a huge pay cut for him. And once he loses his perch at Fox News, he’d take a huge hit in his radio situation as well.