by Kylie Handler, editor
On Saturday, attorney Michael Avenatti claimed that he was looking into an allegation of assault lodged against Fox News host Tucker Carlson — an allegation that Carlson has strongly denied.
Avenatti, best known as the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels, claimed that Carlson assaulted a man at a country club in Virginia. In a statement, Carlson denied any wrongdoing, saying that he never touched the man — but rather, the man called his 19-year-old daughter derogatory names and he was defending her honor.
The encounter occurred on Oct. 13 at Farmington Country Club in Virginia, and Avenatti tweeted out footage of the incident claiming that Carlson and his son both assaulted Juan Manuel Granados while telling him to “get the f— out of here!”
1/2 – We are investigating an alleged assault on a gay latino immigrant committed by T. Carlson and/or members of his inner circle at a club in VA in Oct. It likely includes underage drinking in violation of VA law. Link to a portion of the incident:https://t.co/QcbCRHrplP
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) November 10, 2018
In the video, Carlson could be heard telling the Granados to “get the f— out of here,” but he does not appear to lay a hand on the man.
Carlson said that his daughter went to the bathroom at the country club, and on her way back she ran into Granados. The man allegedly asked Carlson’s daughter if she was sitting with Carlson, to which she replied that was her father.
The Fox News star reports that the intoxicated man then proceeded to call his daughter a “whore” and a “f—— c—.”
In response, Carlson and his son approached the man, and his son proceeded to throw a glass of wine on Granados while Carlson screamed at the man.
After an investigation, Granados’ membership was revoked and Carlson has released a statement.
“I love my children. It took enormous self-control not to beat the man with a chair, which is what I wanted to do. I think any father can understand the overwhelming rage and shock that I felt seeing my teenage daughter attacked by a stranger,” Carlson said.
“But I restrained myself. I did not assault this man, and neither did my son. That is a lie. Nor did I know the man was gay or Latino, not that it would have mattered. What happened on October 13 has nothing to do with identity politics. It was a grotesque violation of decency. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
According to Business Insider, Granados and his partner had previously engaged in a dispute with a different country club. He sued Roanoke Athletic Club after his family’s membership was revoked.
Carlson and Avenatti have had a rocky relationship ever since the attorney began representing Daniels as a client. In September, Carlson ripped into Avenatti for exploiting Daniels for personal gain and has called him a “creepy porn lawyer.”
–Kylie Handler is a news editor for The Horn News