Conservative political commentator and television host Tomi Lahren is suing her former employers Glenn Beck and The Blaze, for wrongful termination of her show Tomi, after she voiced pro-choice comments on ABC’s The View.
On a March 17 episode of The View, Lahren is seen defending her pro choice outlook. “I’m pro-choice, and here’s why: I can’t sit here and be a hypocrite and say I’m for a limited government, but I think that the government should decide what women do with their bodies,” said Lahren, following up with, “stay out of my guns and you can stay out of my body as well.”
These remarks led to social media uproar by fellow conservatives, followed by an indefinite suspension of her show on The Blaze. “I was getting ready to go in and do my show, and I got a phone call saying that the show was not on, ‘have been suspended for a week, perhaps longer’ — I was flabbergasted,” expressed Lahren, to ABC News’ “Nightline” on Wednesday.
The Blaze asserts that Lahren is still under contract with the company, and is being paid through September of this year. Lahren admitted to retaliating after being suspended, and was quoted saying, “This was not about politics, this was about someone who had an opposing viewpoint that has been silenced and sidelined and thrown away.”
Variety reports that, “In her lawsuit against The Blaze, Lahren says that “expressing her First Amendment rights and her personal opinions about a woman’s right to choose is not grounds for termination.” Lahren says that Beck “embarked on a public smear campaign” that attempted “to embarrass, humiliate, and undermine.” The Blaze denied the claims, saying in a statement that “it is puzzling that an employee who remains under contract (and is still being paid) has sued us for being fired, especially when we continue to comply fully with the terms of our agreement with her.”
Lahren is also looking to gain back complete control of her social media accounts, which have been taken over by The Blaze for reasons unknown. “When your outlet is taken away from you, and you don’t understand why, and you are so disappointed, and you are so blindsided by it, it hurts,” A visibly distraught Lahren said to Nightline.
Lahren, a self described ‘constitutional-conservative’ started her own show at The Blaze back in 2015, and has since gained mass media attention for her brutally honest opinions. In November of 2016, Lahren appeared on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, and received backlash on social media by liberals for her contrary opinion on the then San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and his protest of the U.S. national anthem at football games.