The Moment Fox News Couldn’t Bury: Gutfeld’s Profane Eruption on ‘The Five’ Sparks Viral Outrage

By Elena Vasquez, Media and Politics Correspondent October 20, 2025

The fluorescent glow of Fox News’ Manhattan studio is a pressure cooker for partisan fireworks, where The Five‘s roundtable devolves into ritualistic brawls over everything from border policy to celebrity scandals. But on September 15, 2025, the midday staple crossed into uncharted chaos when co-host Greg Gutfeld unleashed a profanity-laced tirade at liberal counterpart Jessica Tarlov, freezing the panel and prompting an abrupt commercial break. What Gutfeld said—later dubbed “the moment Fox tried to hide”—has ignited a digital inferno, with 8.7 million views of the leaked clip on X and TikTok. Millions are debating: Was it raw authenticity in a scripted era, or a network meltdown exposing deeper fractures? As the dust settles, the exchange reveals the high-wire act of cable news, where ratings rule and restraint is optional.

The spark ignited mid-segment, as the panel dissected the shocking assassination of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk, the 32-year-old Turning Point USA founder gunned down outside a Phoenix rally the previous day. Kirk’s death—ruled a targeted hit by an alleged Antifa sympathizer—sent shockwaves through MAGA circles, with President Trump tweeting condolences laced with accusations of “leftist terror.” Gutfeld, 61, the show’s sardonic ringleader and late-night host of Gutfeld!, framed the tragedy as emblematic of one-sided violence. “What’s interesting here is, why is only this happening on the left and not the right? That’s all we need to know,” he posited, his trademark smirk hardening into frustration. It was classic Gutfeld: provocative, punchy, designed to provoke.

Tarlov, 41, the Democratic strategist who’s endured three years as the show’s token liberal amid a sea of conservatives like Dana Perino and Jesse Watters, wasn’t having it. With her signature poise—blonde bob framing a steely gaze—she countered swiftly: “What about Melissa Hortman?” The reference was pointed: Hortman, the Minnesota state representative and her husband, were assassinated in June 2025 by a far-right extremist, their golden retriever slain alongside them in a brutal home invasion tied to anti-abortion zealotry. Hortman’s killing, largely overshadowed by election frenzy, had drawn scant national airtime, a fact Tarlov leveraged to dismantle Gutfeld’s narrative. “Both sides have blood on their hands, Greg. Dismissing her doesn’t erase the right’s role in stoking hate.”

The studio, a circular arena of leather chairs and glowing monitors, went tomb-silent. Gutfeld’s face contorted—veins bulging, eyes narrowing—as he leaned forward, microphone clutched like a weapon. “I never heard of her until she died,” he snapped, voice rising. “None of us did. None of us were spending every single day…” He trailed off, then exploded: “Don’t play that bullshit with me!” The expletive boomed through the live feed, uncensored and unapologetic, before Perino’s wide-eyed intervention—”Greg!”—and an off-camera producer’s frantic cue cut to ads for heartburn relief and gold IRAs. The freeze-frame lingered: Tarlov’s mouth agape, Watters stifling a grin, the chyron frozen on “Political Violence: Left’s Deadly Grip?”

What happened next blurred the line between broadcast and backstage farce. Insiders tell Variety the control room erupted—executives barking orders to scrub the tape, affiliates scrambling for local bumpers. The show returned seven minutes later to a softball pivot on gas prices, with Gutfeld sheepishly apologizing: “I didn’t mean to scream at you, Jessica. It’s just… this is personal. Kirk was a friend.” Tarlov, ever the professional, accepted with a tight smile: “I’m not mad, but broad-brush language like that? It’s what got us here. Appalling and unacceptable—for all of us.” Later segments saw the pair reconcile awkwardly, Gutfeld quipping about his “Hulk moment” while Tarlov nodded through gritted teeth. But the damage was done. A raw clip, smuggled via a production assistant’s phone, hit X within hours, captioned: “Gutfeld loses it—Fox cuts away FAST. What are they hiding?” “This is why trust in media is tanking,” posted Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), her thread dissecting Gutfeld’s “erasure” of right-wing violence going viral with 450,000 engagements.

The right, however, rallied like clockwork. Gutfeld’s defenders flooded replies: “Authentic AF—Tarlov’s whataboutism is the real bullshit,” wrote podcaster Ben Shapiro, whose clip-share hit 89,000 likes. MAGA accounts spun it as heroism: “Greg speaking for every patriot tired of lefty deflections. Kirk’s murder proves the threat—own it, Jessica!” On Truth Social, Trump himself weighed in: “Greg Gutfeld GREAT JOB! The Radical Left is violent and DANGEROUS—Fake News tried to CENSOR but TRUTH WINS!” Watters, in a follow-up Fox & Friends appearance, chuckled: “Greg’s passion is why we love him. Jessica’s tough—she’ll be back swinging.” Yet cracks showed: even some conservatives cringed at the profanity, with National Review’s Jonah Goldberg tweeting, “Funny guy, but swearing on family hour? Not helping the brand.”

Behind the scenes, Fox brass moved swiftly to contain the blaze. A network memo, leaked to The New York Post, mandated “elevated decorum protocols” for The Five, including pre-taped backups for hot segments. Ratings, ironically, spiked 23% the next day—The Five drawing 3.4 million viewers, edging CNN’s lineup—but insiders whisper of internal fallout. Tarlov, per sources, fielded calls from agents urging a pivot to friendlier gigs like The View. Gutfeld, untouchable as Fox’s cash cow, joked it off on his podcast: “I dropped an F-bomb for freedom. The Moment Fox News Couldn’t Bury: Gutfeld’s Profane Eruption on ‘The Five’ Sparks Viral Outrage

The fluorescent glow of Fox News’ Manhattan studio is a pressure cooker for partisan fireworks, where The Five‘s roundtable devolves into ritualistic brawls over everything from border policy to celebrity scandals. But on September 15, 2025, the midday staple crossed into uncharted chaos when co-host Greg Gutfeld unleashed a profanity-laced tirade at liberal counterpart Jessica Tarlov, freezing the panel and prompting an abrupt commercial break. What Gutfeld said—later dubbed “the moment Fox tried to hide”—has ignited a digital inferno, with 8.7 million views of the leaked clip on X and TikTok. Millions are debating: Was it raw authenticity in a scripted era, or a network meltdown exposing deeper fractures? As the dust settles, the exchange reveals the high-wire act of cable news, where ratings rule and restraint is optional.

The spark ignited mid-segment, as the panel dissected