Newsmax anchor Rob Finnerty is currently under internal fire at the conservative cable network over an “embarrassing” April Fools’ Day stunt he pulled on-air, pretending to report “breaking news” that Russia had surrendered and agreed to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Not only are Finnerty’s Newsmax colleagues “pissed” at his tasteless on-air joke but, according to multiple insiders who spoke with The Daily Beast, the network’s CEO Chris Ruddy is also “furious” that the morning anchor decided to use a bloody war—which the Ukrainian president has called a “genocide”—as a goofy punchline.
A Newsmax spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
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“I don't really comment on these internal matters,” Ruddy told The Daily Beast on Saturday.
During the April 1 broadcast of Wake Up America, Finnerty was moderating a panel discussion when political analyst Mark Halperin cracked a cringey joke at the veep’s expense.
“This just in: Julia Louis-Dreyfus is suing Vice President Kamala Harris,” Halperin quipped, referencing the political comedy series Veep. “She wants her character back.”
After Finnerty noted that Halperin tends to “grace” the show with his “comedy” on Fridays, the disgraced pundit responded that it was also April Fools’ Day and viewers should expect such pranks.
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Interrupting co-host Alison Maloni and the rest of the panel, Finnerty then mock-touched his earpiece and said he was just getting “some, uh, news into my ear” while an on-air “Breaking News” graphic appeared on-screen.
“Um, this is breaking news! And this is just happening. So I’m just hearing this, but apparently, we have a ceasefire in Ukraine. Russia has apparently surrendered,” Finnerty exclaimed in a serious tone. “Now again, we don't have anything confirmed, but this news just coming into my ear. Ah, apparently, President Zelensky has reached a tentative deal with President Vladimir Putin on a ceasefire.”
Finnerty then turned to Halperin for immediate reaction to this earth-shatteringly fake news, prompting the pundit to talk about how it “would be great” if there “could be less killing”—only for the Newsmax anchor to stop him and reveal his ruse.
“It’s an April Fools’ Day joke!” Finnerty excitedly declared. “I told you I was going to get you this morning. You guys all fell for that.”
Halperin, meanwhile, told Finnerty that he “had more confidence that you wouldn't abuse the Newsmax name by pretending something so serious and so real.”
The Wake Up America host, however, continued to celebrate that he pulled one over on the panel, boasting that he should be an “actor.” At the same time, his co-host Alison Maloni made sure to tell viewers she had no prior knowledge about the prank.
“I’ve never in my life seen anything like that,” one Newsmax staffer told The Daily Beast. “Obviously, Mark Halperin was horrified. At least his answer was appropriate. How anyone would think that was remotely acceptable is beyond me?”
Two other current staffers who spoke with The Daily Beast explained that the show’s producers were largely unaware Finnerty was going to attempt his lame joke, making the staff look bad in the process.
“Why the real F is right,” an outraged staffer said, adding that Finnerty had allegedly told the control room to merely “be ready” in advance of his stunt, prompting them to unwittingly play along by providing a breaking-news chyron. “They were pissed afterwards too.”
“They weren’t happy with him,” another Newsmax staffer said. “Just a bad joke. The control room didn’t even know what he was doing.”
Finnerty’s cringe-inducing prank apparently ruffled the feathers of the network’s executives, said multiple sources familiar with the situation.
“Ruddy is furious,” one such insider claimed. “[Finnerty] f-d the control room. And the network. I’m furious too. Embarrassing. He thinks he’s hilarious. He alone thinks that.”
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