Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter had some harsh words for the new family separation policy at the U.S. border, and the Fox News pundits who have defended it.
Sutter has recently renewed his contract with 21st Century Fox Television Studios as he prepares for the premiere of his Sons of Anarchy spin-off, Mayans MC. However, he did not mince words about his the studio’s news division while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday.
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“The political decision made by this administration was heinous,” Sutter said of the family separation policy enacted last month. It empowers the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to detail all the children crossing the U.S. southern border separately from their parents. The practice has been defended across all the programming on Fox News, to Sutter’s dismay.
“I don’t consider what Fox airs as ‘news,’” he said bluntly. “It’s manipulative propaganda, run by oligarchs, delivered by puppets, to control the fearful. What I do with FX and Fox 21 is not influenced by that energy.”
“Yes, we are all owed by the parent company, but contrarily, at FX, other artists and myself are given the freedom to tell stories that address real issues in a truthful way. I guess we just learn to live with the sad irony that our fiction is more truthful than Fox News’ facts,” Sutter added.
The subject is undoubtedly close to Sutter’s heart, as the showrunner’s work revolves heavily around the U.S. southern border. He is one of the few creators with a freshly renewed deal at Fox to take such a vocal stand against the news division’s coverage.
He is not alone, however. On Saturday, Seth MacFarlane retweeted a post about Tucker Carlson’s coverage of the controversy, writing that he was “embarrassed to work for this company.”
“Isn’t this sad?” CNN host Brian Stelter wrote. “Tonight @TuckerCarlson told his viewers not to believe ANYTHING they learn from his rivals: ‘If you’re looking to understand what’s actually happening in this country, always assume the opposite of whatever they’re telling you on the big news stations.’”
In other words, don’t think critically, don’t consult multiple news sources, and in general, don’t use your brain. Just blindly obey Fox News. This is fringe shit, and it’s business like this that makes me embarrassed to work for this company. https://t.co/kC7MPYxdgZ
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) June 16, 2018
“In other words, don’t think critically, don’t consult multiple news sources, and in general, don’t use your brain,” MacFarlane added to the tweet. “Just blindly obey Fox News. This is fringe s—, and it’s business like this that makes me embarrassed to work for this company.”
On Wednesday, President Trump announced that he intends to sign an executive order preventing family separation, contradicting his many earlier statements that the practice was enforced by the democrats and he was unable to stop it. The announcement was met with bafflement and further outrage, as the policy is not based on a law and does not need an executive order to be undone. According to the New York Times, the administration still intends to incarcerate children, but keep them in the same facilities as their parents.
