Seth MacFarlane again discussed his uncomfortable relationship with the Fox Network, which has only grown more complicated since Disney’s acquisition of the 20th Century Studios. MacFarlane’s Family Guy still airs on Fox, even though the show is owned by Disney. The filmmaker has made it clear he does not agree with Fox News’ politics.
During Sunday’s Produced By conference, which was held at the Fox Studios lot, MacFarlane said he has an “incredibly complicated relationship” with Fox Corporation. “There are people there with whom I have great personal relationships,” MacFarlane said, reports Deadline. “There are people that I like a lot. But it is a different company than it was when I started. It’s very difficult for me to reconcile exactly what my relationship is with that company right now.”
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MacFarlane has “a lot of issues and a lot of objections to their practices,” he said. Since the news and entertainment divisions of Fox Corporation have stayed independent for the most part, it has “allowed a lot of us to sleep a little better.” However, there are many concerning moves Fox Corp has made lately. MacFarlane found The Masked Singer’s inclusion of Rudy Giuliani during the most recent season “distressing.”
“My overall reaction – and I know I’m not alone – to what the company does and how they communicate what they choose to communicate and what they think is acceptable is, I have a lot of objections,” MacFarlane said. He added that, although he doesn’t agree with Fox News’ politics, they never censored Family Guy when the former 20th Century Fox TV Studios was owned by Fox Corp. “There’s a very laissez-faire attitude that worked great for us… I was never censored and I was never pressured to project a different political outlook,” he said.
Surprisingly, MacFarlane said he believes there is a space for a “rational” conservative news outlet that can present an “opposing viewpoint in a way that is thoughtful and that acknowledges the truth and acknowledges science and acknowledges the reality of the world around us.” However, this doesn’t exist. Fox News could have been that at one point, MacFarlane noted, but it has “really taken a right turn that that has gone someplace radically different.” He believes there’s no “chance in hell” Fox News would make a course correction.
MacFarlane also touched on his relationship with the Walt Disney Company, which has been great. It helps that former Fox TV executive Dana Walden is now working at Disney. “They do try to be culturally conscious. They try to be ethically responsible. And creatively, my relationship with them has been terrific,” he said of Disney.
Although MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door production company is still making The Orville and Family Guy for a Disney-owned studio, Fuzzy Door is now developing new projects for NBCUniversal. One of those is a series based on Ted, the hint live-action/animation hybrid franchise he created starring Mark Wahlberg. The series will feature a younger actor in the Wahlberg role and serve as a prequel, MacFarlane said.
Sunday was hardly the first time MacFarlane publicly talked about the odd relationship he has with Fox News. In 2018, he said he was “embarrassed” to work for Fox Corp. because of the news network. “Tucker Carlson’s latest opinion piece once again makes me wish Family Guy was on any other network,” he tweeted in August 2021. “Look, Fox, we both know this marriage isn’t working anymore. The sex is only once a year, I don’t get along with your mother, and well… I’ve been having an affair with NBC.”
