Local Fox 26 reporter Ivory Hecker first made waves when she began a live weather report with a striking, impromptu note for viewers: she claimed Fox 26 parent company Fox Corp. "muzzled" her to keep "certain information from viewers."
She then went on to share that she'd been working with far-right activist group Project Veritas to release relevant "secret recordings."
BREAKING: Fox 26 Houston TV Reporter @IvoryHecker Informs Network LIVE ON AIR That She Has Been Secretly Recording Them and Intends on Telling Her Story to Project Veritas \n\n#Fox26Whistleblowerpic.twitter.com/wKbb1SaDGN— Matthew Tyrmand (@Matthew Tyrmand) 1623713488
Hecker was quickly fired for her on-air stunt.
A Spokeseperson for Fox 26 spoke to The Daily Beast about Hecker's termination:
"FOX 26 adheres to the highest editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality."
"This incident involves nothing more than a disgruntled former employee seeking publicity by promoting a false narrative produced through selective editing and misrepresentation."
Eventually, Project Veritas did release an interview with Hecker alongside those supposed bombshell recordings with the network's bosses.
But people were left scratching their heads when there was no bombshell to be found.
The tapes revealed that Hecker's boss refused to run a story about Bitcoin during the 5 o' clock hour because "that's not our five o'clock audience."
Another tape captured how Hecker's boss refused to run a story about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, a bogus COVID-19 treatment Trump repeatedly pushed despite several doctors finding it to be ineffective.
Even Newsmax, a notoriously conservative network, couldn't believe Hecker chose this hill to die on.
In an interview with Hecker, a Newsmax host laid her predicament out:
"Some of the media feel like it was somewhat of a letdown that it wasn't the bombshell report that it was alleged."
"Do you agree to that? How do you respond to that? Because essentially, correct me if I'm wrong, for you to get back into news, any other news organizations, that may be a tough road for you."
Hecker, for her part, dug her heels in.
"I don't want to work for another news corporation."
"After what I experienced with Fox. It's really put a bad taste in my mouth."
People who heard about the story, however, just couldn't see the sense in all of it.
Hope she enjoyed her 1 1/2 minutes of fame.— Bathsheba Dreams in Blue (@Bathsheba Dreams in Blue) 1623790860
Lol. She threw away her career for some allegations absolutely 0 people will care about.— tony (@tony) 1623795974
She was \u201cMuzzled\u201d about Bitcoin and hydroxychloroquinine stories.— J Bo (@J Bo) 1623801996
Normally I don't like seeing people lose their jobs, but in this case...pic.twitter.com/D31A6pfJrr— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 PJ's Mamadi Diakite Stan Account \ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddea (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 PJ's Mamadi Diakite Stan Account \ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddea) 1623793020
Big loss to the world of journalism pic.twitter.com/7YKQ7aTrmV— LeftinAZ\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@LeftinAZ\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1623800900
Like the Newsmax host said, it's hard to image where Hecker goes from here.
@TrinityMustache/X
@AnatoliUkraine/X
@ronsparks.ca/Bluesky
@sycamoressource/X
@Stephen52534304/X
@plaintanjane/Bluesky
@alycemiller/Bluesky
House Oversight Committee
@JayShamsX
@ceoofhoesmad/TikTok
@showmeurmoomoo/TikTok
@cablehoe/TikTok
@samanthagibson46/TikTok
@ikranamoktoyu/TikTok
@hopeyoufindyourdad/TikTok
@lexytheactress/TikTok
@athenasworld95/TikTok
@kelsibell24/TikTok
@sydneywynder/TikTok
@vickbash/TikTok
@xp.etros/TikTok