Greg Gutfeld Biography

Gregory John "Greg" Gutfeld (born September 12, 1964) is an American television personality, political satirist, author, humorist, magazine editor, and blogger. Gutfeld is the host of Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld on the Fox News Channel. He is also one of five co-hosts/panelists on Fox News' political talk-show The Five, which debuted on July 11, 2011. Gutfeld's co-hosts on The Five have referred to him as "the Rod Serling of political and social commentary." Gutfeld is a self-described 'mugwump libertarian'.

Personal life

Gutfeld was born and raised in San Mateo, California. He attended Junípero Serra High School and the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1987. In a 2009 interview, Gutfeld explained that he started to experience a change in his political thinking while he was attending UC Berkeley:

"I became a conservative by being around liberals (at UC Berkeley) and I became a libertarian by being around conservatives. You realize that there's something distinctly in common between the two groups, the left and the right; the worst part of each of them is the moralizing."

On the March 11, 2013 Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld show, Gutfled explained that:

"I now call myself a 'mugwump libertarian', a term I made up, which means I am totally independent of all political parties, but still uphold many libertarian ideals, but not the party. Besides, I love the way it sounds. Mugwump!"

He currently resides in New York City with his wife, Elena Moussa, whom he met in London, where he lived for three years. He has described himself as an "agnostic atheist".

Career

After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in English, he interned at The American Spectator, as an assistant to conservative writer R. Emmett Tyrrell. He landed his first full-time job as a staff writer at Prevention magazine. He formerly worked in Emmaus, Pennsylvania for approximately a decade as an editor at various Rodale Press magazines. In 1995, he became a staff writer at Men's Health. He was promoted to editor in chief of Men's Health in 1999. A week later, he was fired and replaced by David Zinczenko. Gutfeld then became editor in chief of Stuff, increasing circulation from 750,000 to 1.2 million during his tenure. In 2003, he hired several little people to attend a conference of the "Magazine Publishers of America" on the topic of "buzz", with instructions to be as loud and annoying as possible. The stunt generated publicity but led to Gutfeld's being fired soon afterward; he was then made head of "brain development" at Dennis Publishing.

He helmed Maxim magazine in the UK from 2004 to 2006. However, Gutfeld's contract expired without renewal after losses in leadership under his tenure. His final year at Maxim saw a gain of about 400,000 readers.

Gutfeld was one of the first posting contributors to The Huffington Post from its launch in 2005 until October 2008; frequent targets of his sarcasm included his colleagues Deepak Chopra, Cenk Uygur, Arianna Huffington, and Huffington Post bloggers. Many of his Huffington Post commentaries/blogs are still available on its website. Gutfeld has his own blogsite, The Daily Gut.

Since February 5, 2007, Gutfeld has hosted the hour-long Fox News Channel late-night program, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, which airs at 3 a.m. Eastern Time. Since the show began, Bill Schulz has been Gutfeld's sidekick and TV's Andy Levy has been the show's ombudsman. Schulz is a former colleague of Gutfeld's from Stuff magazine and Andy Levy was a blogger at The Huffington Post.

On July 11, 2011, Gutfeld became a co-host/panelist on the Fox News political opinion discussion program The Five. The program airs weekdays at 5 p.m. ET/2 PM PT.

Gutfeld appeared on the television sitcom Louie in the episode "Come On, God", playing himself hosting a parody version of Red Eye, moderating a debate between Louis C.K. and Ellen Farber (Liz Holtan). Ellen is the spokeswoman for an organization called Christians Against Masturbation, while Louie was the only person they could find to defend masturbation. The episode aired on August 11, 2011, on FX.

Controversial remarks

In March 2009, Gutfeld faced a public outcry in Canada after he, Bill Schulz, and guest panelists of Red Eye mocked a Canadian military official's remarks that Canada's military could take a year-long "synchronized break" from its role in the War in Afghanistan. Gutfeld described his show to Canadians, who saw video clips of the controversial remarks only on YouTube, as "a satirical take on the news, in which all topics are addressed in a lighthearted, humorous, and ridiculous manner." Canadian Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay demanded an apology from Fox News, which Gutfeld then provided a day later on CBC News. "The March 17 episode of Red Eye included a segment discussing Canada's plan for a 'synchronized break,' which was in no way an attempt to make light of troop efforts. However, I realize that my words may have been misunderstood. It was not my intent to disrespect the brave men, women, and families of the Canadian military, and for that I apologize."

On August 9, 2010, Gutfeld stated that he planned on constructing New York City's first Islamic-friendly gay bar next to the Ground Zero Mosque. As stated in his Greg-alogue, which was featured on Red Eye: "As an American, I believe they have every right to build the mosque"?after all, if they buy the land and they follow the law"?who can stop them? Which is why, in the spirit of outreach, I've decided to do the same thing. I'm announcing tonight that I am planning to build and open the first gay bar that caters not only to the west, but also to Islamic gay men. I hope the mosque owners will be as open to the bar, as I am to the new mosque. After all, the belief driving them to open their Islamic center near Ground Zero is no different than mine...tolerance and understanding." Gutfeld later messaged the Park51 developers of the mosque, seeking a response to his idea. The Park51 group "tweeted" back, "You're free to open whatever you like. If you won't consider the sensibilities of Muslims, you're not going to build dialog." After that Park51 tweet, Gutfeld announced he wanted to build his establishment and name it Dialogue. Other names for the proposed gay bar were sent into the Red Eye host (via Twitter and the Internet) by fans, such as: al Gayda, Grind Zero, The Holey Land, You Mecca Me Hot, and Jihard. Gutfeld has stated he supports the constitutional right of anyone to build a mosque on that site; however, it is not a matter of freedom of religion but a question of sensitivity toward New Yorkers and Americans, who were the targets and victims on 9-11, that should be considered first and foremost.

Books