Former KARE 11 reporter Ivory Hecker claims on live TV that FOX Corp. is 'muzzling her'
A TV reporter formerly based in the Twin Cities is making national news after claiming on air at her current station in Texas that Fox Corporation is "muzzling her."
Ivory Hecker, a general assignment reporter at FOX 26 in Houston, went rogue during a live broadcast Monday, saying that she intends to release some "secret recordings about what goes on behind the scenes at Fox" on Tuesday.
Hecker, a native of Wisconsin, has been with the Fox-owned local TV station in Houston since 2017, prior to which she spent a little over two years as a reporter and anchor at the NBC-affiliated KARE 11 in the Twin Cities.
When the studio cut to Hecker for a weather report in Montgomery County, Hecker instead started by saying: "Before we get to that story, I want to let you, the viewers, know that Fox Corp. has been muzzling me to keep certain information from you, the viewers. And from what I’m gathering, I am not the only reporter being subjected to this."
"I am going to be releasing some recordings about what goes on behind the scenes at Fox, because it applies to you, the viewers. I found a nonprofit journalism group called Project Veritas that is going to help put that out tomorrow, so tune in then."
The clip of Hecker's comments have since been seen more than 2 million times on social media. FOX 26 is owned by Fox Television Stations, which is itself a subsidiary of Fox Corporation.
After cutting back to the studio, the station's two anchors did not make reference to Hecker's comments.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, Project Veritas confirmed it'll be releasing a sit-down interview with Hecker Tuesday evening, and will also publish some of her recordings and videos.
Project Veritas' work includes attempted "sting" videos targeting liberal groups and the media, though it doesn't typically target right-wing organizations such as FOX.
It was in the headlines last year after releasing videos allegedly showing illegal "ballot harvesting" in Minneapolis linked to Rep. Ilhan Omar. These allegations were ultimately unproven, and were denounced by nonpartisan election integrity researchers as being part of a "coordinated disinformation campaign," a claim Project Veritas denies.
Note: An earlier version of this story cited a New York Times claim that Project Veritas releases "deceptively edited" video, which Project Veritas refutes. We have removed this as the description is currently the subject of a lawsuit brought by Project Veritas against the NYT, which you can read about here.
