Outnumbered Host Melissa Francis Off the Air at Fox News Amid Reports of a Gender Pay Dispute

Questions over the future of Fox News host Melissa Francis have been raised after she reportedly filed a gender pay gap claim against the network.

Francis has not been on air at Fox News for more than two weeks — October 7 being her last appearance — and the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that she “is probably at the end of her six-year run at the network, according to people familiar with the matter.”

The Los Angeles Times further reported that Francis “had filed a gender-based pay discrimination claim against the company that has been in arbitration,” citing “one person familiar with the proceedings,” with Francis allegedly complaining she was “underpaid compared with her male colleagues.”

Despite the Los Angeles Times reporting that an unnamed person “close to Francis” said the Fox News co-host had been fired, Fox News denied the claim.

In a statement to Mediaite, Fox News claimed that it “regularly considers programming changes, including to its daytime lineup, and will launch new formats as appropriate after the election.”

“These changes are being made independent of any other ongoing matter,” the network added — noting that Francis has not been fired.

Journalist Yashar Ali also reported in his newsletter on Thursday that Francis claimed that Dianne Brandi — the former general counsel for Fox News who now does consulting for the network — told her men at the network “make more than women do, that’s just the way it works.”

Ali also reported that a source said “they don’t believe Brandi would have said anything like this and that it doesn’t sound like something she would say.”