Rep. Thomas Massie turns the tables on Fox News reporter over hush-money questions

U.S. Representative from Kentucky Thomas Massie lashed out at a Fox News Digital reporter after being chased down the street and pressed over the allegations of offering his purported ex-girlfriend hush money in a case against his ally, Rep. Victoria Spartz. After claiming the allegations were false, Massie turned the camera to the respondent, asking him if he liked "gay porn."

The exchange unfolded with Fox News Digital reporter Nicholas A Ballasy walking up to Massie on the street, asking him about the allegations of offering hush money to his ex-girlfriend Cynthia West over a case of wrongful termination against Spartz. The allegations came a week before Massie lost the race to keep his House seat in the May 19 Primary, with West claiming Massie offered her $5,000 to drop a wrongful termination complaint against Spartz. In the case, West alleged that Spartz fired her in retaliation shortly after she broke up with Massie. 

When the reporter pressed Massie on the allegations, he dismissed them, claiming they were false. On being pressed further to share his side of the story, Massie asked the reporter, "Who are you with?" and when Ballasy said he was from Fox, Massie questioned, "When did you all become a tabloid? Seriously, dude." After the reporter told Massie he wanted to allow him to respond publicly to the allegations, the Republican pulled out his phone and started recording the journalist. "So let me ask you, I heard that you like gay porn," Massie said. "Is that true?"

As the reporter began to walk away, the exchange turned heated with Massie chasing Ballasy down the street this time. "Are you a real loser?" he asked. "No, come back, man," Massie said.  "Are you with Fox? Is that a legitimate news organization? Is this what you do for a living?" he added. Massie later posted his version of the clip on X, saying, "Voyeuristic Fox reporter @NicholasBallasy unsure and uneasy when questioned about alleged gay porn watching habit." 

The heated exchange stemmed from the allegations West made back in May during Massie's primary campaign. West told Axios that she came forward as she resented Massie for speaking about the need for transparency when it came to releasing the Epstein files, after he attempted to silence her with cash when she accused Spartz of wrongdoing. West worked in Spartz's office for about six weeks. After filing the case in March, West was offered a $60,000 settlement, but it came with a nondisclosure agreement that West refused to sign, according to Axios.

On the other hand, Massie has largely denied allegations of offering "hush money" to West. Back in May, Massie called the allegation "false and unsubstantiated" and pointed out that it was sad that the false accusations surfaced just a week before the election. The Republican also denied any inappropriate conduct or offering money in exchange for silence, as per WDRB.