- Fox Nation is hosting an event that requires proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
- Several Fox News hosts who will attend the event have long denounced such vaccine passports.
- Fox requires all of its on-site employees to either be vaccinated or get tested daily.
Several prominent Fox News hosts who've aggressively campaigned against COVID-19 vaccine mandates are hosting an in-person Fox Nation event that requires attendees to either be vaccinated or show proof of a negative coronavirus test.
An email sent by Fox & Friends co-host Pete Hegseth invited his fans to "come in person to support our patriots and celebrate our great Republic together" at the Fox Nation Patriot Awards in Hollywood, Florida on November 17th. He added that some of the cable network's biggest stars, including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Dan Bongino, and the hosts of Fox & Friends, will also appear at the event.
The fine print at the bottom of the email included the vaccine-or-test requirement.
"Attendees must show either a COVID vaccine card OR proof of a negative COVID test taken 72 hours prior to the event in order to gain entrance," it read.
Tickets to the event, which will include "book signings, photo opportunities, giveaways, and live show tapings," range from $125 to $500 per person.
The event's policy is similar to the network's vaccine policy for its employees. Fox requires all of its on-site employees to either be vaccinated or be tested daily. The network has asked its employees to submit their vaccination status and said in September that about 90% of its employees had been vaccinated.
The company's COVID-19 policy directly contradicts what many of the network's most popular hosts have argued for months. Carlson has compared vaccine requirements to "Jim Crow" racial segregation laws and has long spread false and misleading information about the science behind the vaccines.
He and other hosts regularly condemn President Joe Biden's vaccine-or-test policy for large employers and vaccine mandate for the military and other federal employees and contractors. But Carlson refuses to say publicly whether he's been vaccinated and won't discuss his own employer's vaccination policy, which is stricter than Biden's requirement for the private sector.
When asked to address the company's policy on a conservative podcast last month, Tucker said, "I'm not qualified to speak for the company on this because I don't run the company."
Sean Hannity has also refused to speak about his own network's vaccine-or-test mandate, despite regularly criticizing such policies on air.
A spokesperson for Fox News didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
—John Whitehouse+ (@existentialfish) November 12, 2021