Sean Hannity’s close relationship with President Donald Trump has put him under the microscope of media watchers who have accused Fox News of being too friendly with the White House. | Carolyn Kaster/AP photo media Fox News raps Hannity for appearing onstage at Trump rally The Fox News host said he was unaware he would be invited on stage, but the White House had billed him as a "special guest."

Fox News censured its biggest star Tuesday, saying that Sean Hannity should not have appeared onstage a night earlier with President Donald Trump at his final campaign rally before the midterm elections.

Hannity’s cameo appearance Monday in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, directly contradicted a pledge he had made hours earlier not to take the stage with the president. It also contradicted assurances from network brass that, despite a Trump campaign press release touting Hannity’s appearance as part of the rally, he would not be a guest of the president's.


The incident revealed a network struggling to reign in its biggest star, who has flaunted the independence that comes with sky-high ratings and privileged status inside Fox News. Fellow host Jeanine Pirro also appeared on stage with the president Monday.

“FOX News does not condone any talent participating in campaign events,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement. “We have an extraordinary team of journalists helming our coverage tonight and we are extremely proud of their work. This was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed.”

It was not immediately clear how Fox News addressed the incident with its hosts.

While Hannity has traveled to Trump rallies plenty of times to host his show on-site and interview the president, questions about his role at the Missouri rally stemmed from the White House. In an email sent out before the rally, the White House billed Hannity as a “special guest” along with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and musician Lee Greenwood.

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Hannity replied on Twitter that “I will be doing a live show from Cape Girardeau and interviewing President Trump before the rally. To be clear, I will not be on stage campaigning with the President. I am covering [the] final rally for my show. Something I have done in every election in the past.”

Nonetheless, after interviewing Trump live for his show, Hannity was called onstage by the president, to raucous applause. The host promptly pointed to the media members assembled in the back of the room — which included Fox News staff — labeling them “fake news.”

Hannity said in his comments that he had been unaware he would be invited onstage, but he spoke briefly about the president’s accomplishments and repeated Trump’s 2020 reelection slogan, “Promises made, promises kept.”

Pirro, whose show the president has regularly praised, was also called by Trump up to the stage, where she urged the crowd to vote for Republicans.

Hannity claimed on Twitter Tuesday that he had not misrepresented his plans: “What I said in my tweet yesterday was 100% truthful. When the POTUS invited me on stage to give a few remarks last night, I was surprised, yet honored by the president’s request. This was NOT planned."

What I said in my tweet yesterday was 100% truthful. When the POTUS invited me on stage to give a few remarks last night, I was surprised, yet honored by the president’s request. This was NOT planned. — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) November 6, 2018

He also sought to do clean-up on his "fake news" crack.

"To be clear, I was not referring to my journalist colleagues at FOX News in those remarks," Hannity wrote. "They do amazing work day in and day out in a fair and balanced way and it is an honor to work with such great professionals.”

But Hannity’s performance Monday night upset some current and former Fox News employees, particularly because he didn't exempt his coworkers from his shot at the media. Reporter Kristin Fisher was covering the rally for the network.

“I think it was the fake news swipe that teed off a lot of people," said one former Fox News employee, saying that by Tuesday morning, five former colleagues who are still at the network had been in touch about the incident. “The shot at the media, he does that every night on his show. There’s nothing new about that. What does change it is his colleagues were back there.”

Fox News often labors to distinguish between its opinion hosts, who almost universally support Trump, and its news division, which the network says works as objectively as any other.

But another former Fox News employee, who worked in the company’s news division, said this type of incident makes reporters' jobs more difficult because it makes the network seem too close to the White House.

During Fox News’ 11 p.m. newscast, when anchor Shannon Bream went to Fisher to report on the rally, Fisher cited Hannity’s interview with Trump but did not mention his comments on stage.

Trump’s relationship with Fox News has long been tight and has only grown more snug throughout his presidency. Hannity is known to be one of Trump’s top advisers, speaking with the president frequently. And there has been a highway between the network and the White House, with officials such as White House communications chief Bill Shine, top State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert and national security adviser John Bolton all having previously worked at the network. Nauert is viewed as a leading contender to replace Nikki Haley as UN ambassador.

Trump’s interview with Hannity on Monday night marked his 38th on the network’s air since taking office, far more than any other network, according to a POLITICO count. In second place is CBS News, with four Trump interviews. Trump also frequently tweets about shows on the network, sometimes appearing to tweet commentary in real time, and on Monday, he told Hannity that he never misses the primetime show’s opening monologue.

Hannity’s friendship with Trump had previously gotten him in trouble with his employer for pushing the limits of his role as an opinion commentator. He was reprimanded by Fox in 2016 after he appeared in a campaign video endorsing Trump.

In 2010, the Fox host arranged to broadcast his show as part of a Tea Party rally in Cincinnati, with proceeds of his appearance to go to the local Tea Party group. Fox News executives, who had been caught unaware by Hannity’s plans, barred him from appearing and called the host back to New York.

A Los Angeles Times story at the time quoted Shine, then the network’s executive vice president of programming, as saying, “Fox News never agreed to allow the Cincinnati Tea Party organizers to use Sean Hannity’s television program to profit from broadcasting his show from the event. When senior executives in New York were made aware of this, we changed our plans for tonight’s show.”

The incident doesn't seem to have damaged their relationship permanently. According to a pool report, after his interview with Trump Monday night, Hannity fist-bumped Shine.

