FOXLEAKS: Tucker Carlson asks makeup artist if “pillow fights ever break out” in the women’s bathroom

Tucker Carlson

Ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson asked a woman applying his makeup if “pillow fights ever break out” in the women’s bathroom in an on-set, behind-the-scenes video obtained by Media Matters.

“Can I ask you a question?” Carlson asks of a woman applying powder to his face, presumably before a taping of his Tucker Carlson Tonight show. “You don't have to answer, it’s personal.” 

After she assents, he says, “I’m not speaking of you, but more in general with ladies, when they go to the ladies room and ‘powder their noses,’ is there actually nose-powdering going on?”

The make-up artist replies, “sometimes,” to which Carlson responds, “Oooh, I like the sound of that.”

“Most of the time, it’s lipstick,” she adds.

Carlson then asks, “Do pillow fights ever break out?” quickly adding, “You don’t have to, you don’t have to.” After she says “not in the bathroom,” he replies, “OK. Not in the bathroom. That’d be more [of] a dorm activity.”

As the woman completes his makeup, Carlson apologizes and thanks her for being “such a good sport,” adding that he meant the conversation “with great affection.”

Video file

Citation A video obtained by Media Matters

TUCKER CARLSON: Can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer, it’s personal.

MAKEUP ARTIST: Mm-hmm.

CARLSON: I’m not speaking of you, but more in general with ladies, when they go to the ladies room and “powder their noses,” is there actually nose-powdering going on?

MAKEUP ARTIST: Sometimes.

CARLSON: Oooh. I like the sound of that.

MAKEUP ARTIST: Most of the time, it’s lipstick.

CARLSON: Do pillow fights ever break out? You don’t have to, you don’t have to —

MAKEUP ARTIST: Not in the bathroom.

CARLSON: OK. Not in the bathroom. That'd be more a dorm activity.

OFF-CAMERA VOICE: [UNINTELLIGIBLE]

CARLSON: I’m sorry, [REDACTED]. You are such a good sport. Such a good person. Thank you. I know you do, but you do not deserve that. And I mean it with great affection.

Media Matters previously published several behind-the-scenes videos of Carlson’s creepy on-set comments, including discussing his “postmenopausal fans,” describing a woman as “yummy,” and telling a colleague preparing to interview him, “If we’re going to talk about sex, I’d love to hit some of the fine points of technique.” Media Matters also published clips showing Carlson criticizing Fox’s Fox Nation streaming service and describing the lawyer who deposed him for the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox as a “slimy little motherfucker.”

It remains unclear why Carlson was suddenly fired last month, but theories include the Dominion lawsuit revealing his misogynistic off-air comments and the discrimination lawsuit a former Carlson producer filed alleging that she was subjected to a misogynistic workplace.