Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters
Reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner, currently the only trans woman with a paid cable news deal, has been absent from Fox News airwaves for nearly half a year—and it’s not exactly clear why.
In March 2022, Fox News announced to great fanfare that it hired Jenner, arguably the most recognizable transgender person in the world, as an on-air contributor. “Caitlyn’s story is an inspiration to us all,” Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott boasted at the time. “She is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community and her illustrious career spans a variety of fields that will be a tremendous asset for our audience.”
From the time she was hired through mid-August 2023, Jenner appeared on Fox News at least 34 times, according to an analysis by Media Matters for America. Over half of those appearances were on midday “hard news” shows such as America Reports and The Story with Martha MacCallum, but she also popped up several times on conservative primetime opinion programs such as Hannity. Jenner even appeared twice on the panel of Greg Gutfeld’s late-night right-wing “comedy” show.