johnny dollar's archive: jan-feb 2009

Updated! HuffPo apology, Gibson response, and more after the jump.

A headline at Huffington Post blares: John Gibson Compares Eric Holder To Monkey With Bright Blue Scrotum (VIDEO). Writer Alex Leo lays it all out:

At the end of a long and pointless conversation between two Fox News reporters covering a zoo escape, John Gibson compared Attorney General Eric Holder to a monkey.... At 2:48, they toss to John Gibson who complains that he can't get away with saying "bright blue scrotum" on the radio then follows that up by saying, "We were talking about Eric Holder today on the radio and his bright blue scrotum."

Here's the HuffPo video [it has been removed from youtube but see the 'update' below for a link to a saved copy]:

Hundreds of HuffPo commenters erupted in predictable outrage:

• FOX continues to prove it is part of the most racist network since the KKK
• John Gibson should be fired.
• These guys are unbelievable. Racism and Gibson's fixation for blue scrotums together would baffle when Freud himself.
  
• this is not surprising john gibson is a bigot and has never denied it.
  
• i hope Keith Olbeman has a special comment about this isses!!!
  
• Keep digging Faux, just keep on digging yourselves into a marginalize racist pit of despair.

There's only one problem with all this: the video posted by HuffPo is a fake. The three words allegedly spoken by Gibson, "bright blue scrotum", are actually in Trace Gallagher's voice. Those words were lifted from a few moments earlier and pasted over Gibson's actual sentence: "We were talking about Eric Holder today on the radio and his comment that this is a nation of cowards." But don't take our word for it. See, and hear, for yourself:


This story has already spread through the Fox hater echo chamber and it's still propagating tonight. It's even shown up at Keith Olbermann's blog of choice (i.e. Daily Kos), with another passel of outraged comments from the gullible.

The Huffington Post has some 'splaining to do. Why are they presenting a doctored video? Who altered the soundtrack? Who knew and when did they know it?

Most of all they need to make a big-time apology--with the same prominence and bold-type headline as their phony smear.

UPDATE: Our report has had its intended effect. The Huffington Post article now sports a different headline: "John Gibson Did Not Compare Eric Holder To Monkey With Bright Blue Scrotum (UPDATED)" and begins with a retraction and apology:

The Huffington Post has learned that the below video has been doctored. We regret the error and apologize to Mr. Gibson. John Gibson never compared Eric Holder to a monkey with a bright blue scrotum.

It still appears on the media page but is less prominent than before (further down and to the right, and without a graphic to draw attention to it). A quick check found a snarky update from Wonkette and a correction from Jossip...but no changes to the Daily Kos article. [Kos finally limps to the finish line nearly 48 hours later with a pseudo-apology.]

The Huffington Post claims they got the video from TVNewser, but obviously did not verify its accuracy. Several commenters note that an 'annotation' (words that pop on the screen) has now been added to the youtube video by its poster, admitting that Gibson didnt say 'bright blue scrotum'. The original doctored video (now removed from youtube) was saved and can be found here.

UPDATE UPDATE: John Gibson says this is part of a pattern, and had further comments on today's radio program. Breitbart.tv interviews the creator of the doctored video: John Sanders of WBAL-TV. Check our Friday links post for updated reaction from across the blogosphere. fox news nh jg