Say goodbye to Diamond and Silk on Fox News. The media company has cut ties with the MAGA-vlogging superstars, who have been contributing original content to the network’s streaming service Fox Nation since shortly after its late 2018 launch.
The duo was reportedly let go after they were accused of promoting conspiracy theories and disinformation about the coronavirus. “After what they’ve said and tweeted, you won’t be seeing them on Fox Nation or Fox News anytime soon,” a source close to the situation told The Daily Beast.
Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway and Rochelle “Silk” Richardson first came to prominence during the 2016 election. The pro-Trumpers started to appear regularly on Fox News. President Donald Trump raved about their performances and began featuring them at rallies and treating them as “senior advisers.”
After Fox Nation launched as a subscription-based online video network, it hired Diamond and Silk to appear weekly.
“Their episodes, essentially 5-7 minute distillations of their freeform live-streams, appeared like clockwork on the streaming service,” The Daily Beast reported.
The duo never missed a week posting episodes since December 2018.
Diamond and Silk haven’t appeared on the network since a March 6 interview on Fox & Friends and a March 7 hit on the now-defunct Fox Business Network show hosted by Trish Regan, The Daily Beast reported.
Regan was also dumped by Fox after calling the pandemic an “impeachment scam.”
The sisters appeared to share conspiracy theorists’ views on the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What I need to know is how many people have passed away in New York, and what I need to know is: Who has the bodies?” Diamond asked in one episode. “I need for somebody that does investigative work to call the morgues. To call the funeral homes. We need to know, because I don’t trust anything else that comes out of his (Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s) mouth now… Something’s not right here. Something is off here.”
She added: “Is this being deliberately spread? Look, I’m not being a conspiracy theorist, this is real, but I’m asking my own questions. What the hell is going on?”
And Silk said she thought the disease was “man-made” and “engineered.” She also questioned whether the World Health Organization had a “switch” to “turn this virus on and off?”
Neither Diamond and Silk nor Fox News responded to a request for comment.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 70: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin goes solo to discuss the COVID-19 crisis. He talks about the failed leadership of Trump, Andrew Cuomo, CDC Director Robert Redfield, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, and New York Mayor de Blasio.
Still, some question if Diamond and Silk are being held to a higher standard, especially in comparison to Trump, who has been accused of spreading misinformation not only about COVID-19 but also possible treatments such as swallowing and injecting disinfectant.
One person tweeted: “Because Diamond and Silk are held to a higher standard than, y’know, America’s president.”
Trump tweeted out his support for Diamond and Silk on April 28, USA Today reported. He posted: “But I love Diamond & Silk, and so do millions of people!”
Diamond and Silk have 1.4 million Twitter followers and 1.8 million more on Facebook.
