On Wednesday night, Abby Phillip from CNN issued an on-air reprimand to one of her male guests after he referred to a female panelist as “dear” during a tense exchange.
During an episode of CNN NewsNight, the conversation centered around the inquiries into supposed sexual misconduct by Matt Gaetz, the ex-Florida congressman nominated by President-elect Donald Trump for the position of attorney general. The program also featured a leaked diagram allegedly created by federal investigators, which purportedly illustrates transactions between Gaetz and various individuals, including women who claimed he employed them for sexual purposes. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
“The important takeaway is that the DOJ has indicated there’s nothing significant,” commented Bruce LeVell, former executive director of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump.
“Actually, they didn’t,” Julie Roginsky, a Democratic strategist, countered. “They stated that they lacked sufficient evidence to proceed with an indictment—that shouldn’t set the threshold.”
“No, to file charges, dear,” LeVell replied, triggering an immediate backlash from Roginsky. “Dear? Excuse me?” she exclaimed.
“Wait, I’m going to interrupt this right now,” host Abby Phillip interjected. “Because we won’t begin on a misguided note. Please refrain from referring to a grown woman as ‘dear’ in a patronizing manner. Do not do that at my table.”
“Understood,” LeVell said, averting his gaze to the floor during the reprimand. Phillip then redirected the conversation to another guest for their insights.
Last year, the Justice Department informed Gaetz that he would not face charges related to a longstanding sex trafficking investigation. A separate inquiry by the House Ethics Committee into alleged misconduct virtually came to a halt when Gaetz stepped down from Congress after Trump’s nomination of him for attorney general. However, the panel is now under pressure from senators and others to disclose their findings.
This isn’t LeVell’s initial reprimand on a CNN panel. In August, anchor Laura Coates scolded him for interrupting her during a discussion regarding Trump’s remarks questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity at the National Association of Black Journalists convention.
Abby Phillip is also familiar with managing contentious behavior from panelists. Last month, while moderating a roundtable on the Israel-Hamas conflict, guest Ryan Girdusky told Mehdi Hasan, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” referencing Israel’s assault in Lebanon where pagers utilized by Hezbollah members detonated.
Girdusky was subsequently removed from the program, and CNN issued a statement affirming he would be banned from the network, asserting there is “zero tolerance for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air.”
