NEW YORK — A Fox News executive said Saturday the network did not pay Kyle Rittenhouse’s family for any special access during Rittenhouse’s murder trial or after his acquittal, after it was announced that he would speak to Tucker Carlson for an interview to air on Monday.
The comment came after Rittenhouse’s trial attorney, Mark Richards, said that a Fox documentary crew was embedded with Rittenhouse’s team against his wishes. Richards told The Associated Press on Saturday that he didn’t think the filming was appropriate and that he had tossed the crew out of meetings several times.
“It was not approved by me, but I’m not always in control,” he told the AP. “I think it detracted from what we were trying to do, and that was obviously to get Kyle found not guilty.”
Richards, to the AP and in similar remarks to CNN on Friday night, said it was arranged by those who were raising money for Rittenhouse, though he did not say that Fox paid Rittenhouse. Carlson, on his show Friday, showed portions of what his film crew had recorded, including Rittenhouse’s first public comments after being acquitted of murder charges.
Justin Wells, senior executive producer of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” said no payment was made for access, footage rights, legal fees or any other purpose to Rittenhouse or his family.
It’s considered unethical for a news organization to pay for an interview. Broadcasters have found workarounds for much-sought interview subjects, including paying for old photos, or flying an interview subject to different locations and putting them up in hotels.
David Hancock, a spokesman for the Rittenhouse family, said any potential payment by Fox “was never offered and it was never asked for and it was never discussed.”
The intention of the documentary, which is to be shown next month on the Fox Nation streaming service, is to memorialize the experience that Rittenhouse had during the trial and to show people who he really is, he said.
In choosing Fox, Rittenhouse’s family is putting the story before an audience most likely to be supportive. Conservatives paid his $2 million bail after his arrest last year.