"Modern Family" executive producer vows to not work with Fox over Fox News coverage
"Modern Family" executive producer and co-creator Steve Levitan pledged online to cut ties with Fox on Monday, citing his disgust over Fox News' coverage. Levitan joins a growing list of other prominent industry figures who have condemned the network's right-wing bias.
Levitan, whose show is produced by 20th Century Fox TV, revealed on Twitter that he would stick with the company until the series' end, but intends to not work with them in the future –– regardless of what happens in a potential business deal for Fox's TV and film production assets, which Disney and Comcast are vying to acquire.
"I look forward to seeing Modern Family through to the end and then, sale or no sale, setting up show somewhere else," he tweeted. "Fox Studio has been a wonderful home for most of my career –– so many amazing people there who share the concerns about Fox News but aren't in a position to speak out."
While quote-tweeting a description of Fox News host Laura Ingraham's defense of the Trump administration's child detention centers as "summer camps," Levitan said he was "disgusted" to work at a company associated with the channel.
"Let me officially join @SethMacFarlane in saying I'm disgusted to work at a company that has anything whatsoever to do with @FoxNews" he wrote. "This bull***t is the opposite of what #ModernFamily stands for."
Levitan clarified his problem isn't with "fact based conservatism (such as WSJ) but @FoxNew's 23-hour-a-day support of the NRA, conspiracy theories and Trump's lies gets harder to swallow every day as I drive onto that lot to make a show about inclusion."
Even though "Modern Family" is produced by 20th Century Fox, the critically-acclaimed sitcom has aired on Disney-owned ABC since 2009.
Along with Levitan, stars Seth MacFarlane, Judd Apatow and Paul Feig have also voiced their criticism of Fox.
MacFarlane was the first to publicly disavow Fox over the weekend, saying on Twitter that he "was embarrassed to work for this company."
Apatow, who last worked with Fox Studios in 2002, made his point heard Monday night.
"We need as many people as possible to speak out against destroying families and how Fox News supports these policies," the filmmaker tweeted.
On Tuesday, Feig wrote: "I have made two films for 20th Century Fox and love the people in the movie and TV divisions. But I too cannot condone the support their news division promotes toward the immoral and abusive policies and actions taken by this current administration toward immigrant children."
