Fox News is facing criticism after hiring former Andrew Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa as a contributor and giving her a role on the network’s new podcast, “the Girls.”
DeRosa will appear in the show’s Oct. 1 premiere alongside Rachel Campos-Duffy, Harris Faulkner, Kat Timpf and former ESPN host Samantha Ponder.
Fox News announced the new program Monday as part of an expansion of its podcast operations.
DeRosa previously served as secretary to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, becoming the first woman to hold the influential position.
Her hiring immediately drew criticism from former Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean.
Dean became one of Cuomo’s most vocal critics during the COVID-19 pandemic after her mother-in-law and father-in-law died following stays in New York long-term care facilities.
She accused DeRosa of playing a role in efforts to undermine critics of the Cuomo administration.
“Melissa DeRosa helped smear the women who came forward about Andrew Cuomo’s harassment, and played a hand in undercounting nursing home deaths during COVID,” Dean wrote.
Dean also accused DeRosa of trying to silence her advocacy.
The controversy centers in part on the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing home death figures during the pandemic.
DeRosa acknowledged during a private call with Democratic lawmakers in 2021 that the administration had delayed providing certain nursing home data while responding to concerns about a potential federal investigation.
The controversy intensified because New York’s publicly reported nursing home tally did not include residents who died after being transferred to hospitals.
That accounting method left thousands of deaths outside the nursing home total.
A New York State Assembly investigation later concluded that Cuomo’s administration had not been fully transparent about nursing home deaths.
The investigation also found that Cuomo sexually harassed women and improperly used state resources in connection with his pandemic memoir.
DeRosa resigned from Cuomo’s administration in August 2021 as the governor faced mounting pressure over the harassment allegations.
She has since remained active in political commentary.
Fox News has now added her as a contributor, meaning she is expected to appear across the network’s programming in addition to joining the new podcast.
“The Girls” is designed around a rotating lineup rather than a permanent panel.
The weekly show will cover politics, pop culture, family life, relationships, careers and other topics.
Fox News has promoted the program as an unscripted conversation featuring women from different professional and political backgrounds, per Trending Politics.
The debut episode will also mark a notable media return for Ponder.
Ponder previously hosted ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” before leaving the network in 2024.
Her appearance alongside DeRosa gives the first episode a lineup ranging from sports and comedy to cable news and Democratic politics.
Dean’s criticism, however, has placed much of the early attention on DeRosa’s hiring rather than the podcast itself.
Dean retired from Fox News in July after more than two decades with the network.
She had spent years publicly challenging Cuomo and members of his administration over their handling of the pandemic.
Her response shows that DeRosa’s arrival at Fox remains controversial among some people who followed the Cuomo nursing home scandal closely.
Fox News has not indicated that the backlash will affect DeRosa’s contributor role or her scheduled appearance on “the Girls.”
The podcast is still expected to premiere Oct. 1.
