1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough
  8. The Braiser
Advertisement

Creepy: Court Documents Reveal Fox News Had A Big Bed Bug Problem

» 23 comments

No matter how it goes, a bed bug infestation always seems to turn ugly. And it certainly did for Fox News, leading to physically and mentally traumatized employees at Fox’s studios inside the News Corp. building in New York, and now–naturally–the inevitable lawsuit. As part of that lawsuit, the “extraordinary measures” the network employed in 2007 to rid its building of bed bugs is revealed, including the installation of insect monitors, chemical treatments, relocating studios, bringing in bed bug-sniffing dogs to scour the building, hiring a certified entomologist from the American Museum of Natural History and even using the freezing agent Cryonite (no, not Kryptonite) to treat carpets.

And somehow, it didn’t work. What was the ultimate problem that none of those measures could fix? According to Eriq Gardner in The Hollywood Reporter, it was an inside job:

After Fox began bed bug inspections at the homes of its employees — um, nanny state? — they discovered that one of their employee’s homes was infested with spiderwebs, cockroach droppings, and yes, bed bugs. The American Museum entomologist concluded that the treatments were working, but every time the premises were made bed-bug free, the same employee would bring new bed bugs into the offices. (Eventually, this employee left Fox News and began receiving workers’ comp.)

Okay, I feel itchy and need to go change my clothes.

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up for Mediaite's daily newsletter.

Email Twitter Facebook Digg Reddit Stumble Upon Yahoo Buzz LinkedIn Tumblr Delicious
  • ModerateMan

    Is this why Alan Colmes left Hannity & Colmes?

  • skyfet

    Finally! this explains the craziness

  • Rio

    My granddaughter’s college has dorms that have become infested with the nasty little creatures. Nothing like sending your freshman off to college and finding out they are dealing with bed bugs. Bit of bittersweet, you want your child home whenever possible but fear the evil bugs might find a ride home in the luggage. So far, so good.

    I understand that they are an issue across the nation. Ugh!

  • LibertySister

    It is obvious and pretty much everyone knows when ever you talk to a liberal you can smell them.
    So visiting liberals to Fox News are known to lack basic hygiene and shower less so that is how the bugs got in..

  • WCinWI

    Mark -

    Did you also do a media hit piece on Politico’s rat or roach or whatever it was problem?

  • black and WHITE

    That’s what they get for allowing O’Reilly to bring Jon Stewart into the studio instead of calling it in for his interview.

  • Rio

    skyfet said:
    Finally! this explains the craziness

    Watch out!, don’t get too cocky, kharma can be a real pain; the bed bugs are back and might be visiting you as they don’t seem to care if you are….left or right:

    Now, bed bugs are prominent and have been since the 1990′s. Although, every single state has recently reported infestations of these particular bugs, the northeast region of the United States is most severely infested. New York and Ohio are currently the top two competitors in terms of infestations. However, Terminex has recently reported that New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia are the most infested. A common way these bugs are introduced is by travel. Many or most of New York’s hotels are direly infested with these minute pests, and no matter how much treatment is done, they seem to have adapted and have become immune to the chemicals. The hotel industry is in critical condition thanks to bed bugs, and they are taking any precautions to take control and ensure prevention of these pests.

    In July’s issue of the NY Times, it stated that 311 informational hotline in New York received over 33,772 phone calls just for bed bugs, “a 54% increase from 2008.” New York has already spent over half a million dollars just to control the number of bed bugs. New York has also shut down a few corporal business buildings due to these infestations, stores like Victoria’s Secret and Hollister were some of them.

    Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5025979

  • The Tea Weasel®

    LibertySister said:
    It is obvious and pretty much everyone knows when ever you talk to a liberal you can smell them.
    So visiting liberals to Fox News are known to lack basic hygiene and shower less so that is how the bugs got in..

    Liberals don’t visit Fox News. Look to your own.

  • skyfet

    Rio said:
    Watch out!, don’t get too cocky, kharma can be a real pain; the bed bugs are back and might be visiting you as they don’t seem to care if you are….left or right:

    Speak for yourself, they share that building ith other organizations.

  • Rio

    skyfet said:
    Speak for yourself, they share that building ith other organizations.

    What’s that supposed to mean? share the building with other organizations?

  • http://www.snowspot.net Snowspot

    LibertySister said:
    It is obvious and pretty much everyone knows when ever you talk to a liberal you can smell them.

    This kind of talk is a little…scary.

  • Colorado_Conservative

    Definitely planted there by MSNBC hotheads…….I’ll bet Shultz did it……Mathews, O’Donnell and Maddow would crap their pants if they had to carry them.

  • writer

    The bugs at MSNBC are probably talking about the bugs at Fox.

  • Samsohn

    THAT’S CRAZY

  • TfT

    I’m really surprised to see this story as well, the bed bug infestation was wide spread and lots of offices had this and similar problems. Why focus it just on FNC?

    Well, never mind really….this kind of hit piece wipes out all those good vibes I got from reading Colby acknowledgeing that FNC is the most watched and most trusted news on the air (my paraphrase of his remarks).

  • Colorado_Conservative

    writer said:
    The bugs at MSNBC are probably talking about the bugs at Fox.

    Lol…I’ll bet the Fox bugs has many more friends then the MSNBC bugs!

  • TillieGlockenspiel

    TfT said:
    I’m really surprised to see this story as well, the bed bug infestation was wide spread and lots of offices had this and similar problems. Why focus it just on FNC?

    Well, never mind really….this kind of hit piece wipes out all those good vibes I got from reading Colby acknowledgeing that FNC is the most watched and most trusted news on the air (my paraphrase of his remarks).

    Agree. MANY NYC hotels and offices and movie theaters have had massive bedbug infestations over the past few years.

    The BRILLIANT policy of banning DDT has resulted in increased infestations worldwide and increases in MALARIA. Apparently, government agencies have never heard of UNINTENDED consequences.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Hartley-Macklin/553654852 Hartley Macklin

    So that’s where Major went (just kidding)

  • illusive man

    Snowspot said:
    This kind of talk is a little…scary.

    I’m not surprised, “liberals” are notoriously easy to scare.

    LOOK BEHIND YOU! A LIBYAN! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!…………….just kidding ;)

  • BarneyFranken

    Bedbugs have been a city wide epedemic for a while now.

    But this does makes sense as to why New York is called the city that never sleeps…

    I wouldnt go to sleep either if nasty little pests awaited me.

    (Insert joke about skyfet’s wife saying the same thing here)

  • TeaPartyPatriot

    “Fox News Had A Big Bed Bug Problem”

    That’s what they get fro letting a lunatic-left d-crat socialist reject from npr (juan williams) into their studios.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Taylor/615579533 Mike Taylor

    See my bed bug dog “Lillie” finding bed bugs on YouTube
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqjYKtkQIgM

  • http://Mediaite.com uggugg

    Fox News has got to learn; If you have strange bed fellows someone is going to take a bite of you, it may even be Bed Bugs.

© 2012 Mediaite, LLC | About Us | Advertise | Newsletter | Jobs | Privacy | User Agreement | Disclaimer | Power Grid FAQ | Contact | Archives | RSS RSS
Dan Abrams, Founder | Power Grid by Sound Strategies | Hosting by Datagram