The Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur has described himself as an “independent progressive” whose web-based news shows target the 98 percent of Americans “not in power.”
But just over a year ago, Uygur led a profanity-laced panel discussion of “how to pick up chicks” in which he discussed hitting on a 19-year-old beauty pageant winner when he was 28 and laughed when Young Turks entertainment/political reporter Hasan Piker bragged about being a “total misogynist.”
Piker also told a third panelist, Young Turks sports personality Francis Maxwell, that his Scottish accent was a “built-in f– mechanism.”
The roughly nine-minute video, broadcast as part of the site’s subscription-only “Post Game” program in September 2016, has resurfaced as Uygur has faced scrutiny over blog posts from the early 2000s in which he made numerous graphic and disparaging remarks about women.
Last week, Uygur apologized for the old blog posts, which he called “ugly” and “insensitive,” but insisted that he has reformed since becoming a political progressive more than a decade ago. “If someone said that today, I would heavily criticize them on the show and rightfully so, and I have,” he told TheWrap.
In the 2016 video, though, Uygur raised no audible objections to the more provocative statements by Piker, who is also Uygur’s nephew. “I could go on and on,” Uygur said as the segment concluded. “I love this topic.”
Through a spokesperson, both Uygur and The Young Turks declined to comment for this story.
The video began with Uygur recounting how he “used to hook up” with a future Miss Jamaica pageant winner who was nearly a decade younger than he was.
When Maxwell, who was born in the U.K., suggested acting confidently around women, Piker cut him off. “It’s absolutely inappropriate for you to give people dating advice or how to pick up chicks when you have a built-in f— mechanism on your face that just produces Scottish accents at people,” Piker said. “And they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, he’s not from here, I want to f— him immediately.”
At one point in the video, Piker went confessional. “I used to be fat and still pulled in numbers,” he said, an apparent reference to the number of women with whom he had sex. “I’m being a total misogynist, but I’m being honest.”
He also tried to excuse his comments by noting that the audience for the “Post Game” show “is like, what, 97 percent male.”
According to The Young Turks website, women currently represent only seven of the company’s 26 on-air hosts — less than 27 percent.
Uygur, whom Piker calls his mentor in “relationship stuff,” shared his own advice in the “Post Game” video, which is still available on the site. “If you’re going to talk to girls, just do it. Do it within the first five seconds. Do not hesitate,” he said.
“Bro tip: five-second rule,” Piker added, a reference to a standard piece of advice on “how to get laid” that he offered on his short-lived vlog series “BroTip” on The Young Turks network.
“You start talking to this girl, it finally leads to hooking up and you’re bold enough to grab an ass check and then maybe get some hand play downstairs. What is the next move? You need to get out of there and you need to get out of there fast — hopefully with the girl,” Piker said in one “BroTip” video circa 2013.
“You have to use these five magic words, ‘Let’s get out of here,'” added Piker, whom BuzzFeed declared a “woke bae” earlier this year. “It’s time to separate her from her herd, meaning her crowd of girlfriends who are going to do their best to c—block you because they’re fat and lonely.”
The advice appeared to borrow heavily from Neil Strauss’ 2005 best-seller “The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.”
Bill O'Reilly Sexual Harassment Scandal: Complete Timeline of Events (Photos)
“The O’Reilly Factor” host Bill O’Reilly, the most-watched and most profitable personality on cable news, is officially out at Fox News. Here’s everything you need to know about the Fox profit machine’s fall from grace amid sexual harassment scandals.
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This year, O’Reilly has continued to dominate the ratings, ranking as the No. 1 most-watched cable news host — a position he’s held for more than a decade. Research firm Kantar Media estimated “The O’Reilly Factor” earned $446 million from advertisers between 2014 and 2016. See the 2017 cable rankings here.
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2004: In O'Reilly's first public run-in with sexual harassment claims, the host settled a lawsuit filed by his former producer, Andrea Mackris, according to a Washington Post report. The payout in the settlement was not disclosed.
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January 2017: The current scandal begins to bubble when the New York Times reports that Fox News and O'Reilly secretly settled a sexual harassment lawsuit in January. Juliet Huddy, a former Fox News employee, alleged that in 2011, O'Reilly tried to derail her career after she turned down sexual advances he made on her.
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April 1, 2017: The New York Times reported that O’Reilly and Fox News have settled sexual harassment and verbal abuse claims with five different women aimed at the host over the years. The two settlements mentioned above had been previously reported, but three were unknown. The payouts to women to end their suits total $13 million. Read more here.
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April 1: In addition to the settlements, two other women allege sexual harassment against O’Reilly. Former Fox host Andrea Tantaros alleged O’Reilly sexually harassed her in a lawsuit against former Fox CEO Roger Ailes. Radio host Wendy Walsh also came forward to allege O’Reilly made sexual advances on her when she was a guest on his show in 2013, and reneged on a promise to get her a job at the network after she rebuffed him.
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April 4: As the scandal grew, O'Reilly sponsors began to jump ship. Eleven O'Reilly sponsors exit the show, including Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, BMW, GlaxoSmithKline, Allstate, T. Rowe Price and Constant Contact. Read the full story here.
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April 5: Donald Trump supports O'Reilly, saying the host "shouldn't have settled." Trump also said "I don't think Bill did anything wrong." Read the rest of the story here.
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April 5: Even more sponsors pulled their support for "The O'Reilly Factor." The advertisers jumping ship include Lexus, Credit Karma, Bayer, TrueCar, Wayfair, Orkin, Society for Human Resources Management, CFP Board and Coldwell Banker. The total number of sponsors departing the show now totaled at least 20. Read more here.
April 6: As more advertisers pulled out of "The O'Reilly Factor," two sponsors told TheWrap their ads were aired by Fox News against their wishes. Both MyPillow and Crowne Plaza said their ads were aired despite instructions to Fox not to do so. Read more here.
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April 7: Fox apparently stands behind O’Reilly despite sexual harassment allegations, and women at the network are reportedly “in anguish” that O’Reilly went “unrebuked.” Meanwhile, the number of advertisers who have pulled out from “The O’Reilly Factor” climbed to 60 or more. Read the full story here.
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April 7: Angie’s List, an advertiser that vocally stood by O’Reilly through the scandal, bowed to public boycott pressure and dropped its “Factor” sponsorship. Read the story here.
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April 8: "Saturday Night Live" took aim at the O'Reilly scandal, while sending up Trump's support for the host. Alec Baldwin played both O'Reilly and Trump on the show. Watch the sketch here.
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April 9: Fox News pledged to investigate the sexual harassment claims against O'Reilly, including Walsh's. Read the full story here.
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April 11: Fox News aired what might have been the final episode of “The O’Reilly Factor.” The April 11 episode is O’Reilly’s last before a vacation he said he scheduled in the fall, running until April 24. But reports suggested O’Reilly may not return to the network when his vacation ends. Read more here.
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April 13: In a letter congratulating Fox News on recent successes, Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch failed to mention O’Reilly or the ongoing scandal. Read the full story here.
April 18: The Wall Street Journal, a publication owned by the Murdoch family (who also own Fox news), reported the network was looking to cut ties with O'Reilly before he returned from his scheduled vacation on April 24. Read the full story here.
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April 19: Women’s advocacy group UltraViolet urges Fox to “stop protecting sexual harassers” and fire O’Reilly in an online ad. Read more here.
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April 19: Fox News parent company 20th Century Fox releases a statement that O'Reilly will not return to the network. Read the story here.
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Everything you need to know about Bill O’Reilly’s ouster at Fox News
“The O’Reilly Factor” host Bill O’Reilly, the most-watched and most profitable personality on cable news, is officially out at Fox News. Here’s everything you need to know about the Fox profit machine’s fall from grace amid sexual harassment scandals.