Brit Hume’s Wife Out as Fox D.C. Bureau Chief

NY Post gossip columnists George Rush and Joanna Molloy report that on-the-job marital squabbling between Brit and Kim Hume have led to the latter’s leaving the Fox News Channel.

Marital sniping may have led to the departure of Brit Hume’s wife, Kim, from Fox News last week. Kim Hume’s imminent exit as Fox’s D.C. bureau chief was announced Thursday. The buzz out of Washington is that she and the anchorman had been tattletaling on each other to the chairman and CEO of Fox Television Stations. “They’d been calling Roger [Ailes] in New York separately,” reports our source. “They’d complain to him about each other.”

A Fox spokeswoman denied that either Hume has bothered Ailes. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said. But another source told us that the couple, who together weathered the suicide of Brit Hume’s son, Sandy, in 1998, often argued in front of staffers. “Brit’s not the easiest guy to get along with,” said the source. “You disagree with him, and it’s an argument. It’s his way or the highway. [Kim] is a tough cookie, but he speaks down to her in front of other people.”

[…]

There are indications Kim Hume stepped down on her own. She told U.S. News & World Report columnist Paul Bedard that Brit supported her feeling that she was “done.” “He gets husband points galore,” she said.

I have no idea what sort of relationship the Humes have but would find it quite odd if they were unable to maintain professionalism in the workplace. Still, it’s probably not a great idea for a husband and wife to work together, let alone in a high stress environment.

Gone Hollywood

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. I knew a couple that drove into work together, she was the secretary for him all day, they drove home together (stopping for groceries or whatever as needed) and spent most of the evening together. Just a tad to much togetherness for me, but for them it worked.

    If she did start playing power politics, that isn’t to smart. Even ignoring the problems with doing this at work with your spouse, if the decision is someone has to go, which is more likely? The behind the scenes bureau chief or the ‘face’ that viewers are looking at. Unless FNC was ready to push Brit out anyway, she was going to lose in the power politics game unless Brit just didn’t play.