Lauren Susan Green (born June 30, 1958) is the Chief Religion Correspondent for Fox News.[2][3] Previously she was a headline anchor giving weekday updates at the top and bottom of the hour during morning television show Fox & Friends. She has also appeared as a guest panelist on Fox's late-night satire show Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. She is the first African-American Miss Minnesota.
Lauren Green | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lauren Susan Green[1] June 30, 1958[1] Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Education | University of Minnesota Northwestern University |
| Occupation(s) | Correspondent (Fox News) |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Spouse | Ted Nikolis |
Early life
editGreen was born to Robert and Bessie Grissam Green in Minneapolis. She has two sisters, Barbara and Lois, and two brothers, Leslie and Kenneth.[1] In an interview with Bill O'Reilly she admitted that when she was in the sixth grade, Prince had a crush on her, called her to say "I like you", and she hung up on him.[4] She later appeared in the music video for Prince's 1992 song My Name Is Prince, playing a news anchor and using her own name of Lauren Green. She won the Miss Minnesota pageant in 1984, and was third runner-up in the Miss America 1985 pageant.
Green earned her Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of Minnesota in 1980, then attended graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.[3][5]
Green is a practicing Christian and was raised in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.[6]
Interview with Reza Aslan
editIn 2011, Green asked whether Islam "makes believers more susceptible to radicalization."[6]
Ιn a 2013 interview with Iranian-American scholar Reza Aslan about his new book, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Green questioned the Muslim scholar for the reasons of his research on Jesus and Christianity, in general, asking "why a Muslim would write about Jesus." Aslan defended his credentials several times throughout, and stated that his motive and interest were explicitly scholarly since religion is indeed his field of research. Green continued to press him on the same matter, appearing not to accept Aslan's explanations. Aslan stated that "anyone who thinks this book is an attack on Christianity has not read it yet."[6]
Green received considerable criticism for her line of questioning. Erik Wemple of The Washington Post disparaged Green's questions as "dumb, loaded, and prejudicial," calling for the Fox News Channel to apologize to Aslan.[7] Daniel Politi of Slate speculated that the interview was possibly "the single most cringe-worthy, embarrassing interview on Fox News [...] in recent memory."[8] In a Guardian op-ed, Roy Greenslade posed the rhetorical question, if "even by Fox News's standards, is this its most embarrassing interview?"[9] Meredith Blake, in the Los Angeles Times, wrote that, in the "cringe-inducing interview," Green seemed to object to Aslan’s background more than the actual contents of the book.[10]
Fox News' Dan Gainor defended Green, writing in an op-ed that in "the liberal media, one dare not ever question the motives of Muslims."[11]
Τhe book, buoyed by the viral interview, went on to become a New York Times best seller.[12]
Music
editIn 2004, Green released an album called Classic Beauty consisting of classical piano music.[13]
Green also played keyboards for Mike Huckabee's band The Little Rockers on the Fox News program Huckabee.
In January 2014 Green performed in the 90th birthday concert for Georg Ratzinger, the brother of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who was also in attendance. She described this in an opinion piece written for Fox News as "the honor of a lifetime."[14]
COVID-19 pandemic
editThroughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Green advocated for churches who defied court orders to stop large gatherings.[15] An editorial written by her, and published by Fox News on March 15 featured a stock photo of people holding hands when CDC guidelines at the time advised against it. The article called washing hands, sanitizing homes, and practicing social distancing a "temporary or flimsy barrier to a raging tsunami" and said "To close the churches where people go for comfort and spiritual strength – as an act of fighting against this biological scourge – seems like a surrender to Satan."[16]
Green interviewed Louisiana pastor Tony Spell for a Fox News piece in which she argued that "The fundamental right to freedom of religion in the United States is sacrosanct." In Green's piece Spell claimed the church closings were politically motivated, and that through faith his church members had been "healed of HIV and cancer -- diseases [that are] bigger than COVID-19."[17]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Minnesota Birth Index, 1935-2002". Ancestry.com. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
- ^ "Opinion - Commentary from Lauren Green". Fox News. April 22, 2011.
- ^ a b Lauren Green bio, Fox News Network, accessed November 8, 2013.
- ^ "O'Reilly - FOXNews.com". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2010-04-30.
- ^ Distinguished Visitor Series: Lauren Green on YouTube, The King's College (New York), October 27, 2009, accessed July 28, 2013.
- ^ a b c Murphy, Dan (July 28, 2013). "Can Muslims write about Christianity?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ Wemple, Erik (July 29, 2013). "Fox News must apologize to Reza Aslan". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ Politi, Daniel (July 28, 2013). "Fox News to Scholar: Why Would a Muslim Write a Book About Jesus?". Slate. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ^ Greenslade, Roy (29 July 2013). "Even by Fox News's standards, is this its most embarrassing interview?". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
- ^ Blake, Meredith (29 July 2013). "Fox News interview with religion scholar Reza Aslan goes viral". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
- ^ Gainor, Dan (30 July 2013). "Liberal media miss reality in jabs at Lauren Green's interview with 'Zealot' author Aslan". Fox News. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
- ^ Stump, Scott (31 July 2013). "Jesus book hits No. 1 in wake of viral Fox News interview". Today. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
- ^ David Freedlander (2013-07-30). "Lauren Green, the Woman Behind Fox News' Reza Aslan Interview Debacle". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
- ^ Lauren Green (2014-01-17). "Honor of a lifetime -- performing at the Vatican for Pope Benedict, his brother". Fox News. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
- ^ "Why Some Churches Are Defying Bans on Gatherings". Fox News. 27 March 2020.
- ^ "This is the power of a National Day of Prayer". Fox News. 15 March 2020.
- ^ "Lauren Green: Coronavirus crisis -- Why some churches are defying bans on gathering". Fox News. 27 March 2020.