Sean Hannity's Biggest Controversies Ever
The slogan at Fox News was once "Fair and Balanced." The network claimed, "We report; you decide." However, the taglines have been retired, per The New York Times, and allegations abound that Fox News functions more as a mouthpiece of the Republican Party than a news organization, including from people within the Republican Party itself. Former president Donald Trump, for example, famously a big fan of the network, introduced a number of Fox News personalities at a rally by proclaiming, per AP, "They're very special; they've done an incredible job for us."
While host Tucker Carlson is a frequent target of both critics and his own network's lawyers — Fox News itself famously argued in court that a "reasonable person" would be skeptical of anything Carlson says on-air — its other nightly news anchor, Sean Hannity, draws his fair share of criticism too. Hannity has been a controversial public figure ever since he first worked as a radio "shock jock" back in the late '80s and early '90s, saying offensive things just for the purpose of causing offense, and as his career has taken him to the pinnacle of conservative media, backlash seems to follow everywhere he goes. From angering sponsors and sparking a coffee machine-smashing trend among his fans to allegedly advising the highest levels of government during an attempted violent coup, these are Sean Hannity's biggest controversies ever.
He campaigned for Donald Trump's re-election, against Fox News policy
Although Fox News has a policy against its on-air personalities campaigning for elected officials, that didn't stop Sean Hannity from appearing at a Donald Trump election rally in 2018. When news broke that Hannity would be what the White House announced as a "special guest," controversy erupted across social media. According to PolitiFact, Hannity swore off the event in a since-deleted tweet, claiming he was merely going to interview the President before the rally. "To be clear, I will not be on stage campaigning with the president," he wrote. "I am covering final rally for my show. Something I have done in every election in the past."
However, Hannity did indeed get up and speak in support of Trump. He received what Deadline called "an uproarious ovation," and then, according to AP, he said, "By the way, all those people in the back are fake news." The line seems to have gone over well with the crowd, but it can't have landed well with Hannity's Fox News colleagues, some of whom were in the very press area Hannity encouraged attendees to mock.
The following day, Fox gave Hannity little more than a slap on the wrist. "This was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed," a statement from the network read, per USA Today. Hannity then tweeted that his on-stage appearance was "NOT planned," despite being touted in a press release from the White House, so, who's to say?
Sean Hannity promoted fake news about Michelle Obama
A rare Sean Hannity apology came after he fell for an actual fake news story — in the original late-2016 meaning of the term, before it became a catch-all for anything President Donald Trump admittedly didn't like. As CNN reported, a site called Your News Wire, which played fast and loose with the meaning of "news," published a made-up report days before the 2016 election alleging that Michelle Obama had deleted tweets mentioning Hillary Clinton. It wasn't true, but that didn't stop right-wing outlet Gateway Pundit from picking up the claim and writing in a since-deleted blog post, "The rats are jumping ship."
That was good enough for Hannity's radio show, where he repeated the claim and expanded it, his producer listing off then-president Barack Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren as other Democrats supposedly deleting their support of Clinton. "Wow ... That means they know it's huge," Hannity said, according to CNN. "You know why? Because Obama's implicated! He's implicated here, and he's pissed. You know what his legacy might be? Jail."
The story was easily debunkable — the tweets were very much still there on the various "implicated" Twitter accounts, after all — and Hannity apologized on Twitter. "Fact is they didn't [delete tweets]. I humbly apologize. Live radio," he tweeted (via The Hill). He further defended himself in a statement to CNN, claiming that the incident was "insignificant" and that he was "dealing with more important issues like HRC crimes and lies."
He flip-flopped on WikiLeaks
As you may have noticed from this list so far, ideological consistency doesn't seem to be something that Sean Hannity concerns himself with too often. This is perhaps most apparent in the Fox News personality's changing attitudes toward WikiLeaks, depending on what was politically expedient at the time. In the controversial website's early years, when the website published classified documents about the military, Hannity was not a fan, to say the least. According to Media Matters, back in 2010, Hannity said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was "waging his war against the U.S." He also criticized President Obama for not having captured Julian Assange, wondering, "Why can't Obama do something about the WikiLeaks?"
Years later, when WikiLeaks released emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee, Hannity was suddenly their biggest supporter. In 2016, he conducted a satellite interview with Assange to thank him for what he'd released, telling him that he hoped Assange — who at the time was hunkered down at the Ecuadorean embassy in London — would go free soon. "You have done a lot of good in what you have exposed about how corrupt, dishonest and phony our government is, and I applaud that," Hannity gushed, per The Daily Beast. He interviewed Assange a few months later on his radio show, telling him, "You've done us a favor." And a month after that, Hannity conducted an in-person interview with the beleaguered webmaster, during which Hannity proclaimed, "Journalism is dead." Alas ...!
The pundit has made offensive remarks about Black Lives Matter
Though his Fox News colleague Tucker Carlson frequently draws ire for promoting white supremacist conspiracy theories on his show, per Rolling Stone, Sean Hannity himself has repeatedly made offensive remarks about the Black Lives Matter movement. Black Lives Matter would go on to become the largest civil rights movement in American history, according to The New York Times; while the movement is decentralized, one website associated with the group defines their mission as "to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes."
Hannity isn't having it. In 2015, he characterized BLM on the radio (via Media Matters) as a "racist group threatening to kill cops and kill white people." A few months later, he took issue with Democrats attending a forum hosted by Black Lives Matter. "Why don't you let the Klan host a party?" he asked sarcastically (via Media Matters), likening a movement meant to uplift Black people to the KKK, who often murdered them. The following year, amid the 2016 Presidential election, Hannity allowed that racism may still exist, but he questioned why Democrats sought the endorsement of BLM. "They only make things worse because their advancing narrative is killing cops," he said (via Media Matters), without providing evidence. In 2021, Hannity incorrectly claimed that BLM activists "attacked" The White House the previous summer; in actuality, as The Washington Post reported, protesters were tear-gassed to clear the way for a photo op.
Sean Hannity made ignorant comments about AIDS
In the early days of his media career, Sean Hannity hosted a radio show at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Press at the time described Hannity as a "shock jock," meaning he said incendiary things on-air to get a reaction from listeners. One of Hannity's frequent targets in the late '80s was gay people, especially people with AIDS. In recordings posted decades later to Media Matters, Hannity called homosexuality "tantamount to ... playing in a sewer," called gays "disgusting people," said that AIDS was "a gay disease," suggested that gay people shouldn't be teachers, told a lesbian caller, "I feel sorry for your child," and said much more and worse that we won't print here. In response, local gay rights activists launched a boycott, and Hannity's show was ultimately canceled. "Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't hit me," the station manager told The Santa Barbara Independent (via The Washington Post).
His remarks about gay people have come back to haunt Hannity numerous times over the years, including in 2018, when actor Billy Baldwin tweeted about the controversy and racked up thousands of retweets. Hannity addressed the controversy in a statement (via TheWrap), but he fell short of apologizing. "I was young and stupid with no clue how to do a show," he said. "I'm actually very libertarian on social issues and people's personal lives. I'm now 56 years old and yes, I freely admit the comments in my 20s were ignorant and embarrassing."
He was a birther
In 2011, as Donald Trump was ginning up speculation about a run for president, he advanced racist conspiracy theories that President Barack Obama had not been born in Hawaii and was, instead, Kenyan. While some of the media dismissed the speculation as racist, Sean Hannity defended so-called "birthers" both on his radio show and on Fox News. According to Media Matters, Hannity wondered, "Why are [birthers] crucified and beaten up and smeared and besmirched the way they are?" He also repeatedly called for Obama to release a long-form birth certificate despite the fact that he had already produced his regular Hawaiian birth certificate, demanding, "Why don't they just release it and get it over with?" He invited Donald Trump on his television show multiple times to spread the conspiracy theory.
President Obama did ultimately release his long-form birth certificate, poking fun at the whole controversy in a segment at the White House Correspondents Dinner that some believe is the moment Trump decided to run for president. While Trump eventually admitted that he believed Obama to have been born in the United States after all, Hannity continued to reference the controversy for years. On his radio show in 2016, he joked (via The Hill), "I have an offer for the president. I will charter a plane for you and your family. I will charter it to the country of your choice. ... You want to go to Kenya? I'll pay for you to go to Kenya."
The Fox News host defended Roy Moore, sparking a Keurig-smashing trend
In 2017, Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore faced allegations from multiple women that he had abused them when they were underage, including one woman who claimed Moore initiated sexual contact when he was 32 and she was 14. Moore released a statement to The Washington Post claiming, "These allegations are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party."
Sean Hannity seems to have agreed, because he not only backed Moore on his show, he even invited the man to defend himself. In recordings posted to Media Matters, Hannity said, "You have false allegations that are made, and you know — how do you determine? It's 'He said, she [said].'" In response, multiple sponsors announced they would no longer advertise on the program, including Keurig. In response to the response, fans of Hannity began posting videos of themselves smashing their coffee machines. Business Insider reported on viral videos depicting Hannity viewers slamming their Keurigs on the ground in protest, boycotting the boycott as an anti-boycott statement, it seems.
Hannity walked it all back after the controversy, claiming in a since-deleted tweet (via Media Matters) that he had been "clear and unambiguous" about the situation. He then went on to issue an "ultimatum" to Moore, asking him to clear up the accusations; in a since-deleted "open letter," the candidate claimed the allegations were a "desperate attempt to smear my character and defeat my campaign," which was good enough for Hannity.
Sean Hannity was revealed to be a client of Michael Cohen
President Donald Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, faced legal trouble when it was revealed that he helped pay off adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an affair with Trump. Cohen admitted that his role in the Trump administration was "to cover up his dirty deeds," and according to CNN, he received a three-year prison sentence for his role in the payment and resulting cover-up.
Sean Hannity reported on the attorney's legal trouble, but during a court hearing, it was revealed that Hannity himself had used Cohen for legal consultations. Hannity never disclosed this relationship on-air and defended himself on his radio show, twisting it into a media issue rather than one of his own ethics. After insisting that he had never officially paid Cohen for legal services — though, according to NBC News, he admitted he "might have handed him 10 bucks" — Hannity said (via CNN), "How did this blow up to be such a big deal? ... pretty unbelievable, the world we live in."
Some of his Fox News colleagues, however, thought it was a big deal. Frequent commentator and law professor Alan Dershowitz confronted Hannity about the revelation live on television, admonishing, "I think it would have been much, much better had you disclosed that relationship." Hannity shot back, "I have the right to privacy. I do."
He promoted the Seth Rich conspiracy
In July 2016, a young man named Seth Rich was murdered in a mugging gone wrong on the streets of D.C. According to reporter Michael Isikoff, there had been seven armed robberies in the six weeks leading up to Rich's murder, and police concluded that the tragic killing was exactly what it seemed like.
Rich was a staffer for the Democratic National Committee, and Isikoff explained to NPR how Russian disinformation soon led to a conspiracy theory that he had been slain by a team of assassins sent by Hillary Clinton to keep him from testifying about something that would be damaging to her in the election. Over the objections of the man's family, Sean Hannity promoted the conspiracy theory on air, suggesting on Twitter in a since-deleted tweet (via Media Matters) that Rich might have been the source of leaked DNC emails that were published by WikiLeaks. Furthermore, he said this was important because it would cause problems for what he called a "media hysteria meltdown and the alliance to destroy President Trump."
Hannity was out on a limb compared to the rest of the party; even the conservative National Review wrote about what it called the "shameful nonsense" Hannity pushed on his show. Rich's family ultimately sued Fox for its baseless, incendiary coverage; the family said in a statement shared by CNN, "The settlement with Fox News closes another chapter in our efforts to mourn the murder of our beloved Seth, whom we miss every single day."
The political commentator promoted the COVID-19 vaccine ... and backtracked
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which President Donald Trump repeatedly downplayed and minimized, Sean Hannity was by his side. On March 9, 2020, he said, "This scaring the living hell out of people; I see it, again, as like, let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax." Days later, on the other side of the worldwide shutdown, he denied ever having called the disease a "hoax," but still said the way "they" were using the virus was "predictable, despicable, repulsive, all of the above."
Sixteen months later, with vaccines widely available, Hannity changed his tune. "Please take COVID seriously. I can't say it enough. Enough people have died. We don't need any more death," he said (via TheWrap). He added, "It absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated. I believe in science. I believe in the science of vaccination." His comments predictably went mega-viral, angering fans of the political firebrand who had spent more than a year denying the efficacy of vaccines based on things Hannity himself had said on his show. A few days later, he walked it all back. "I'm not urging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine," he said on his radio show (via Media Matters), clarifying that he merely wanted people to do their own research. "Why are they saying something I didn't say?"
After his brief pro-vaccine stance, Hannity has continued to push vaccine skepticism, claiming (via Media Matters) Democrats "want to quarantine people in ... special internment camps." Ah, well.
He offered to be waterboarded for charity, and never was
During the controversy over "enhanced interrogation" techniques in the aftermath of the George W. Bush administration, Sean Hannity made it very clear where he stood: Waterboarding wasn't torture, it seemed, and it was in fact so harmless that even someone like Sean Hannity could handle it with no problem. At least, that's the impression he gave off when he offered to undergo the tactic, which involves putting a wet rag over someone's face and pouring water on them, simulating drowning. During a debate with "The Heartbreak Kid" star Charles Grodin (via The Huffington Post), Grodin jokingly suggested Hannity experience it himself. The cable news host replied, "I'll do it for charity. I'll let you do it. I'll do it for the troops' families."
MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, a critic of both Hannity and the use of waterboarding, wouldn't drop it when Hannity never followed through. According to Entertainment Weekly, Olbermann offered to donate a thousand dollars for each second that Hannity lasted. "I'll double it," he said, "when you admit you feared for your life."
Four years later, a reporter for ThinkProgress asked Hannity what happened to that whole waterboarding-for-charity thing. "Here I am bringing you on the program and give you an opportunity to give your pretty radical left-wing point of view," Hannity protested. "That's kind of the way you treat me?" ThinkProgress claims that after the show, Hannity called them to complain, "What you're doing here is really stupid."
Keith Olbermann claimed he was a grifter
Speaking of Keith Olbermann, back when he hosted a show on MSNBC, the liberal firebrand often provided a counterweight to Sean Hannity's conservative stance. He refused to pull punches, criticizing Hannity's conspiracy- and race-baiting rhetoric as such. In one segment, for example, Olbermann had some harsh words for a guest on Hannity's show who had put forth a theory that then-Senator Barack Obama was "a secret Muslim with a secret agenda to overthrow the government." For platforming such a person, Olbermann called Hannity a "hack" and made reference to him not having a soul.
He expanded on his personal relationship with the Fox News star several years later, revealing on Twitter that they were once colleagues. Olbermann claimed that Hannity told him back in the day that he was playing a character and didn't really believe the incendiary things he said. "Hey @seanhannity remember when you would tell me in the hall at ABC Radio you were amazed anybody believed you since it was just theater?" Olbermann wrote.
Hannity has not addressed the allegations.
The radio host didn't disclose his influence over President Trump
It's no secret that Sean Hannity is a big supporter of former president Donald Trump. The Fox News personality frequently interviewed Trump while he was in office, steering his answers whenever he started to ramble, such as one memorable incident where Trump seemed unable to outline any particular goals for a second term in office.
What seems to have been more of a secret was the fact that Hannity evidently had a hand in running the Trump administration, which he did not disclose on air. The Washington Post reported on Hannity's influence over the President; according to sources in the White House, Trump and Hannity often spoke on the phone late into the night, with the former asking the latter for advice. "He basically has a desk in the place," one source said. David Bossie, once a deputy campaign manager for the Trump campaign, went a step further. "The president sees him as an incredibly smart and articulate spokesman for the agenda," he said. Trump's former press secretary Stephanie Grisham, on the other hand, told CNN that Hannity acted as a "shadow advisor" to the President.
A so-called "journalist" acting as a "spokesman for the agenda" raises ethical concerns. A USA Today editorial called Hannity's undisclosed influence "dangerous," writing, "Sean Hannity is not spreading Donald Trump's endless stream of lies, self-aggrandizing delusions and wild conspiracy theories, he's authoring them."
Sean Hannity is implicated in the January 6th attack on the Capitol
Though Sean Hannity has continued to support Donald Trump since he left office, the two apparently disagreed significantly about one of the biggest events of Trump's tenure in the White House: the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. In the months leading up to the attack, Hannity repeatedly promoted Donald Trump's thoroughly debunked claims about election fraud after the 2020 election; he even excitedly previewed the January 6th rally on his Fox News show, telling viewers the night before, "Big day tomorrow, big crowds."
Privately, however, it seems that he was advising the Trump campaign about the event and was even cautioning against going too far. The Congressional January 6th Committee released text messages revealing that Hannity texted Trump's chief of staff that very same night, "I'm very worried about the next 48 hours." A few days after the riot, according to The Independent, Hannity texted, "He can't mention the election again. Ever." When those text messages were released, Trump told CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins, "I disagree with Sean on that statement and the facts are proving me right."
At the time of this writing, it remains to be seen how much heat Hannity will take for his role in the lead-up to January 6th, but Congressman Adam Schiff told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell, "We have no interest in [Hannity's] political commentary, in his show, in his work as a journalist... but we have a deep interest in conversations, texts, etc. that are outside of any role related to Fox News."