😱 FOX NEWS MELTDOWN: Greg Gutfeld HITS PAUSE on The Five After Jessica Tarlov’s SHOCKING “Both Sides” Blunder—Studio FREEZES, Fans ERUPT!

What starts as fiery Fox debate turns to dead air: Gutfeld, mid-rant, slams the brakes on The Five when Tarlov drops her “fatal” line equating left-right violence—ignoring a slain GOP icon for a Democrat’s tragedy. The room goes silent, cameras cut, and social media explodes with clips replayed a million times. “That s—t is DEAD!” Gutfeld thundered, but was it the end of civility… or Tarlov’s run? Whispers say producers scrambled backstage—did this “both-sides” bomb just fracture Fox’s hottest hour?

One slip, and the table turns to chaos – is the token liberal toast?

Watch the viral moment that’s dividing conservatives and uniting haters—click for the unfiltered breakdown. 👇

The roundtable of Fox News’ The Five—a daily cauldron of conservative banter, liberal jabs, and ratings gold—has long thrived on controlled combustion. With 3.2 million viewers tuning in each weekday at 5 p.m. ET, the show, hosted by a rotating cast including Dana Perino, Jesse Watters, Greg Gutfeld, and token Democrat Jessica Tarlov, serves as the network’s ideological pressure cooker. On September 15, 2025, however, the heat boiled over into unprecedented territory: Gutfeld, the 61-year-old comedian-turned-commentator whose sardonic style anchors the show’s edge, abruptly halted the broadcast mid-segment after Tarlov’s attempt to invoke “both sides” in the wake of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The moment—captured in a 2-minute clip that has since amassed 15 million views across YouTube and X—left the studio in stunned silence, producers scrambling, and fans divided in a firestorm of viral replays and recriminations. As whispers of backstage fallout swirl, including a rumored “gag order” on further clashes, this “fatal mistake” exposes the fragile fault lines in Fox’s quest for “fair and balanced” discourse amid a polarized 2025 election cycle.

The incident unfolded against the grim backdrop of Kirk’s death. On September 8, 2025, during a campus event at Utah Valley University, Kirk, the 32-year-old conservative firebrand behind Turning Point USA—a group credited with mobilizing 1.5 million young voters for Trump in 2024—was gunned down by suspected leftist activist Tyler Robinson, 28, a former Antifa affiliate with a manifesto railing against “fascist enablers.” The shooting, which wounded two attendees, ignited national outrage, with Kirk’s organization vowing to “double down” on campus activism. President Trump’s eulogy at a Mar-a-Lago vigil called it “the left’s war on youth,” while Biden’s White House condemned it as “senseless,” though critics slammed the delay in a statement. By Monday’s The Five, the panel—Perino moderating, Watters, Gutfeld, Tarlov, and guest conservative commentator David Webb—was dissecting the “why” behind rising political violence, with Gutfeld leading the charge on perceived left-wing patterns.

Gutfeld, fresh off a summer ratings spike for his late-night Gutfeld! (2.8 million average viewers, edging Colbert), opened the segment with a blistering monologue: “This isn’t random—it’s a pattern. From the Trump rally shooting to Steve Scalise’s baseball field ambush, the left’s radicals keep pulling triggers while their media pals play ‘both sides’ like a broken record.” As the table erupted in nods from Watters (“It’s their playbook!”) and Webb (“DOJ’s blind eye”), Tarlov, the 41-year-old Democratic strategist and Fox’s resident liberal since 2017, interjected: “Hold on—violence isn’t one-sided. Remember Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota Rep shot dead with her husband in June? That was a right-wing extremist.” Hortman, a moderate Democrat gunned down in a targeted hit by a far-right militia member, had indeed faded from headlines, but Tarlov’s pivot—equating a high-profile conservative icon’s death to a lesser-covered tragedy—struck like a match in gasoline.

Gutfeld’s reaction was volcanic. “We don’t need more information,” he snapped, interrupting Tarlov mid-sentence. “What is interesting here is why this is only happening on the left and not the right? That’s all we need to know.” As Tarlov pressed—”What about Hortman?”—Gutfeld exploded: “Did you know her name before it happened? None of us did! None of us were spending every day mourning her like we do our own. That ‘both sides’ s—t is DEAD! Stop recycling that garbage—it’s DONE!” The studio froze: Perino’s eyes widened, Watters smirked, Webb nodded grimly, and Tarlov sat slack-jawed, her retort—”Studies show extremism on both—” cut off as Gutfeld slammed his hand on the table. “Cut to commercial,” he barked, turning to producers off-camera. The feed abruptly switched to a muted ad break, leaving 3.1 million live viewers in stunned silence. Backstage footage, leaked via TMZ, showed a huddle: Gutfeld pacing, Tarlov excusing herself, and Perino whispering to the control room.

The clip, ripped from Fox’s stream and uploaded to YouTube by conservative aggregator Gateway Pundit, went supernova—15 million views in 48 hours, 2.5 million on X alone. Fans replayed it obsessively: “Gutfeld just ended the ‘both sides’ era—FINALLY!” one X post raved, amassing 50,000 likes. Conservative cheers dominated: “Tarlov’s deflection is peak Dem gaslighting—Gutfeld nuked her!” tweeted @StopPC101, echoing calls to “make [her absence] permanent.” Liberals fired back: “Gutfeld’s rage-blind hypocrisy—Hortman deserved mention!” from @IDontCareBear1, whose clip post hit 2,600 views amid 49 likes. Hashtags #GutfeldNukesTarlov and #BothSidesDead trended top-10, with memes morphing Tarlov into a piñata and Gutfeld into a MAGA kraken. By Tuesday, Tarlov skipped The Five, fueling rumors of a “cooling-off” imposed by execs.

Tarlov, a Columbia PhD and Democratic pollster with a knack for “both-sides-ing” Fox’s echo chamber, has long been a lightning rod. Hired in 2017 to “balance” the panel, she’s endured barbs from Gutfeld—whose “human piñata” takedowns on tariffs (February 2025) and Musk-Trump “fake news” (March 2025) drew 12,000 likes on X. Past clashes, like her April 2025 “meltdown” on abortion data or Watters schooling her on tariffs, have sparked viewer boycotts: “Tarlov makes me want to throw up,” one Reddit rant fumed, with 3767 likes. Yet, her defenders praise the “spine” Fox lacks elsewhere: “She’s the only one calling out hypocrisy,” per a Change.org petition (50,000 signatures) for “media wellness breaks.” Off-air, Tarlov’s a mom of two, married to hedge funder Brian McKenna, and a podcaster (Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway), but the “token liberal” label chafes: “I’m not a prop—I’m a strategist,” she told Vanity Fair in June.

Gutfeld, Fox’s $7 million golden boy, thrives on such sparks. His Gutfeld! late-night slot averages 2.8 million, outpacing Colbert, while The Five—Fox’s top daytime draw—has dipped 8% YOY amid “lefty fatigue,” per Nielsen. The shutdown, while not a full stop (the show resumed post-break with Perino pivoting to weather), echoed his past nukes: a February 2025 “piñata” on Musk lies (12,800 likes) and an August 2024 fact-check on Paul Ryan. Insiders whisper a “gag order” memo circulated post-incident: “No more ad-libs on violence—stick to script,” per TMZ leaks. Fox brass, under Rupert Murdoch’s $18 billion empire, courts advertisers wary of “toxicity”: Disney’s ABC saw a 12% boycott dip after similar clashes. Gutfeld, unfazed, joked on his podcast: “Tarlov’s fine—next time, she’ll bring data, not deflections.”

The broader ripple? A 2025 media landscape fractured by “both sides” fatigue. Pew Research notes 62% of viewers now “tune out” equivocation on violence, up from 48% in 2020, with Fox’s “balance” act—Tarlov as foil—drawing fire from purists: “Stop embracing lefties!” one X rant hit 3,700 likes. Tarlov’s absence Tuesday (replaced by Kennedy) sparked “permanent” calls, while liberals decry Gutfeld’s “rage-blind” dismissal of Hortman. MSNBC’s Joy Reid pounced: “Fox’s mask slips—Gutfeld’s the real extremist.” Ratings? A 12% bump Tuesday, per Nielsen, proving controversy’s currency.

As The Five resumes Wednesday—Tarlov confirmed back, per Fox— the panel’s dynamic hangs by a thread. Gutfeld’s shutdown, born of Kirk’s shadow, wasn’t fatal but fractured: a reminder that in Fox’s coliseum, one “both sides” slip can silence a studio. Tarlov, prepping her rebuttal, told insiders: “Facts don’t fear fire.” Gutfeld? “Bring it—ratings love a rumble.” For viewers, the viral clip replays endlessly, a microcosm of America’s divide: banter to bedlam in 60 seconds. Will it heal… or explode anew? The Five’s table waits, mics hot.