Tucker Carlson isn't apologizing for resurfaced 'naughty' rape comments

Tucker Carlson
(Image credit: Roy Rochlin / Stringer/ Getty Images)

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has decided not to apologize for offensive comments he made during old radio interviews.

Carlson in a tweet Sunday said he had been "caught" saying "something naughty on a radio show more than a decade ago," and that he is refusing to "express the usual ritual contrition." Instead, he plugged his Fox News show, saying anyone who wants to know what he thinks can watch it.

Media Matters for America over the weekend resurfaced a variety of old interviews with Carlson, during which he defended a man, Warren Jeffs, who was convicted over his arranging of illegal underage marriages. Carlson said "arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old and a 27-year-old is not the same as pulling a stranger off the street and raping her" and that "the rapist, in this case, has made a lifelong commitment to live and take care of the person so it is a little different." Carlson suggested Jeffs had been imprisoned simply because "he has a different lifestyle."

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Carlson also suggested that a woman who molested a 13-year-old was "doing a service." And in other appearances, he said women are "extremely primitive," referred to one woman using the C-word, another as a "pig," and others as "whores" and "unattractive."

Carlson's old comments, which were made between 2006 and 2011, sparked outrage on social media, with some calling for another advertiser boycott. His show already lost some advertisers earlier this year after controversial comments he made about immigration.

This was just one of two Fox News controversies from the weekend; host Jeanine Pirro said that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) wearing a hijab is "indicative of her adherence to Sharia law." Fox News released a statement condemning Pirro's comments, but the network has not commented on Carlson's.

Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.