Fox News Responds to Paris Mayor’s Lawsuit Threat

In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says the city is looking into filing suit against Fox News Channel for comments made by a guest on the channel about “no-go zones” in the city and comparisons with Baghdad that were made following the jihadist attacks on the offices of satire magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher market earlier this month.

During an interview with Amanpour, Hidalgo said the city was “insulted” and that “the honor of Paris has been prejudiced.”

“When we are insulted, and when we have had an image, then I think we’ll have to sue, I think we’ll have to go to court in order to have these words removed,” she said.

When Amanpour asked which network she planned to take to court, Hidalgo responded: “Fox News, that’s the name.”

Related Stories

Related Story

Global News Outlets Divided Over Whether to Show New Charlie Hebdo Cover

Fox News executive vp Michael Clemente issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “We empathize with the citizens of France as they go through a healing process and return to everyday life. However, we find the Mayor’s comments regarding a lawsuit misplaced.”

Fox News’ report on central Paris’ so-called “no-go zones” last week said parts of the city were unsafe for non-Muslims, commentary that politicians and news organizations have mocked since it aired.

The network has since issued multiple on-air corrections regarding the statements made by guest Steve Emerson, a terrorism expert interviewed following the attacks.

On Saturday, Fox News issued an on-air apology regarding the comments. Fox Report host Julie Banderas said: “Over the course of this last week, we have made some regrettable errors on-air regarding the Muslim population in Europe, particularly with regard to England and France.

“Now this applies especially to discussions of so-called ‘no-go zones,’ areas where non-Muslims allegedly are not allowed in and police supposedly won’t go,” Banderas continued. “To be clear, there is no formal designation of these zones in either country and no credible information to support the assertion that there are specific areas in these countries that exclude individuals based solely on their religion.”

Emerson himself has also apologized for the inaccuracy of the comments.