The Food Network has spoken out against former host Josh Denny, who faces backlash over controversial remarks he made about Texas' new abortion law, which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, and the Supreme Court's 5-4 vote to deny an emergency request to block the law.
The 38-year-old former frontman of the network's "Ginormous Food" sparked outrage on Twitter after praising the new bill and using slurs against women who opted to have abortions. In response, the Food Network disowned Denny on Twitter.
"For those asking: Our working relationship with Josh Denny ended years ago and we removed all episodes he hosted at that time. His views do not reflect our company values and we regret giving him a platform," the network tweeted.
Denny hit back at the network on social media shortly after the statement was posted.
"If you regret having ever given me a platform, how about you send me a check for the 10’s of millions of dollars my show made for your network(s)?" he wrote. "You knew my views and my style of comedy when you hired me. My views represent the beliefs of half of this country."
In a follow-up tweet, Denny added, "My words are obviously more dangerous and reprehensible than their actions."
Actress Bette Midler has also spoken up about the new law but unlike Denny, she stands against it and has now called upon women to go on a sex strike as a form of protest.
"I suggest that all women refuse to have sex with men until they are guaranteed the right to choose by Congress," Midler said on Twitter.
Midler added that the new law is against "women, their lives, their bodies, and their autonomy."
"This isn’t about guns, speech, money or war," she posted.
"It’s about women, their lives, their bodies, and their autonomy. That’s what allowed the court to do shoddy work, with careless disregard, because who’s going to stop it? They only did the thing in the dead of night, without care or effort, because they believe women are so used to being gaslit that of course, they’ll just tolerate it. They did the thing in the dead of night without care or effort because they genuinely believe that they’re only women, and they deserve what they get."
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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