In the bustling Fox News headquarters, inside Kat Timpf’s office, her husband, Cameron Friscia, cradled their 5-month-old son. “I have a little bit of drool on me, but it wasn’t there when I got here, I swear,” Ms. Timpf quipped with a smile as she settled into her chair. Her husband, a consultant and combat veteran whom she met on Raya, had brought their little one for a quick visit. Soon, the baby was tucked into his stroller, navigated carefully around the mountain of congratulatory-yet-sympathetic gifts covering the floor. Father and son headed home, leaving the new mother to dive back into her demanding work schedule.
“I’ve navigated a whirlwind of challenges, and honestly, I’m still in the thick of it,” Ms. Timpf confessed. “The easiest way to put it? I still don’t have nipples.”
As a co-host of “Gutfeld!”, Fox News’s distinctive take on late-night comedy, Ms. Timpf commands a significant audience, often outperforming traditional late-night giants like Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Stephen Colbert, despite its earlier 10 p.m. slot. This unusual success has positioned her as the most-watched woman in late-night, at a moment when the genre itself has become a surprising hotbed of political debate.
Her prominent role has also made her a lightning rod for public attention, sparking a mix of fascination, genuine concern, sharp judgment, and sometimes outright fury from viewers. This intense scrutiny has only amplified over the past year, a period during which Ms. Timpf, at 36, experienced pregnancy, a breast cancer diagnosis, childbirth, a double mastectomy, subsequent reconstructive surgery, and openly discussed it all on “Gutfeld!”, the show hosted by Greg Gutfeld.
Greg Gutfeld’s comedic approach often blends anti-liberal jabs with frequent jokes about women’s bodies — their age, weight, or perceived sexual appeal. Seated nightly to his right, Ms. Timpf engages with his humor while forging her own distinctive style of physical comedy, one rooted in her personal experiences within a woman’s body.
My meeting with Ms. Timpf took place on a Tuesday morning in August, marking her second day back on “Gutfeld!” following reconstructive surgery. This procedure involved replacing the tissue expanders, placed behind her chest muscle during her March mastectomy, with permanent breast implants.
That morning, she wore baggy jeans and a fitted gray T-shirt, a choice she confessed she’d second-guessed. “Would a looser shirt have been better?” she pondered, elaborating, “There’s something about breast cancer that – I don’t want to say embarrassing. People ask, ‘Are you breastfeeding?‘ and you have to respond, ‘I just had my breasts removed.‘ It’s undeniably odd, which is precisely why I’ve chosen to speak about it so openly.”
On the eve of her “Gutfeld!” return, a fresh wave of controversy was brewing on the right: the backlash to the backlash surrounding Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans campaign. Tyrus, a former pro wrestler, weighed in on Sweeney’s female detractors, declaring, “They look like a bag of oatmeal and they’re ugly and mean.” Ms. Timpf, however, seized the moment for a clever, self-deprecating joke. Recalling her reaction to the ad from her couch, she mused, “I thought: Should I have gone bigger?“
The majority of Fox viewers responded to Ms. Timpf’s candidness about her pregnancy and cancer with the same warmth one would offer a friend or colleague, extending congratulations on her baby and prayers for her healing. Yet, a vocal minority used platforms like Facebook and X to express their outrage, often tagging her in fantastical debates: YES, WE KNOW SHE HAD A BABY, BLAH BLAH. I HAD CANCER, BLAH BLAH. You don’t need a double mastectomy. Try ivermectin first. Go on maternity leave and spare us. Stay Home and Be a Mother!
For Ms. Timpf, “Gutfeld!” has become a platform to find purpose amidst personal trauma. She believes, “If even one woman feels less self-conscious about her own mastectomy, then that’s a victory.”
Within the Fox News studios, Ms. Timpf’s personal narratives about her pregnancy and cancer align with the network’s tendency to humanize its anchors, framing them as a cohesive television family. However, when “Gutfeld!” goes live, it also thrusts Ms. Timpf into a politically charged environment where women’s autonomy over their bodies and lives is constantly debated. This includes pronatalist influencers advocating for large families, right-wing streamers promoting wifely submission, and critics flooding “Gutfeld!” feeds with demands for Ms. Timpf to withdraw from public life. At 10 p.m. on Fox News, personal experiences undeniably become political statements.
From ‘Red Eye’ to ‘Gutfeld!’
Imagine playing Guess Who? with Fox News figures; you could likely pinpoint Ms. Timpf in just three clues: She’s a woman, under 40, and wears glasses. Within the network’s visual language, women in glasses often signify a departure from the norm. While Laura Ingraham, the blonde nationalist shock jock, might be Fox News’s most prominent female personality, Ms. Timpf stands apart. A registered independent, she’s never voted for President Trump, espouses pro-capitalist and antiwar views, and occasionally criticizes ICE. She once bleached her brown hair but grew tired of salon visits. She’s also dated women, an aspect of her life she views as unremarkable.
Her recent book, “I Used to Like You Until …,” is a witty critique of political polarization, its title echoing the sentiment of those who turn on her after discovering her views or her affiliation with Fox News. Notably, when Jimmy Kimmel faced a brief suspension from ABC following strong criticism from the FCC chairman after his remarks on Charlie Kirk’s death, Ms. Timpf defended Kimmel on “Gutfeld!”, asserting, “You shouldn’t want the government to have this kind of power over speech.”
Ms. Timpf began her Fox News career in 2013, balancing daytime reporting for the Campus Reform watchdog with nighttime comedy gigs in D.C. clubs. Greg Gutfeld, captivated by her writing on college culture wars, invited her to “Red Eye,” his earlier 3 a.m. late-night show. He recalled his surprise at meeting a “lanky blonde” whom he also described as “a dude, full of masculine energy” in one of his books. Her Fox News headshot from that period, with its barrel-curled blond hair, liberty blue dress, and nonprescription glasses, remains an iconic representation of her early on-screen persona.
Despite the polished image of television news, Ms. Timpf instinctively challenged its artificial femininity, often exposing the performative aspects. Early in her career, she openly joked about her “double mastectomy”-sized breasts and the clip-in hair extensions that dramatically enhanced her hairstyle. Kennedy, the MTV V.J. turned libertarian Fox personality, recounted their first meeting backstage at Fox News: “She had a bag of fake hair, and she was talking about her fake glasses, and her bra that gave her fake boobs.” Initially, neither warmed to the other, but they later bonded over shared grief from losing a parent, with Kennedy ultimately officiating Ms. Timpf’s 2021 wedding.
In 2015, as Fox News began piloting “The Greg Gutfeld Show” (the precursor to “Gutfeld!”), Ms. Timpf initially served as an ombudswoman, tasked with fact-checking guests and moderating debates. However, she was quickly elevated to the role of Mr. Gutfeld’s primary sidekick and witty foil. Mr. Gutfeld explained his choice, stating, “I didn’t want someone who was going to agree with me all the time.”
Once known as “Gutfeld!’s” resident childless cat lady, playfully discussing her bond with her elderly cat, Cheens, Ms. Timpf now embraces her role as an unapologetic working mother. Greg Gutfeld observed that her biggest struggle this past year wasn’t the personal upheaval, but “not working,” which he believes “drives her crazy.” Her commitment to her career often provokes strong reactions from others. Recently, during a live taping of Tim Pool’s podcast “The Culture War,” she advocated for feminism against Myron Gaines, author of “Why Women Deserve Less.” Gaines repeatedly attempted to dismiss Ms. Timpf, suggesting she belonged in the kitchen, and later mocked Mr. Friscia, who was seen with their baby backstage, as her “cucked husband.”
“I’ve cultivated a whole team of haters,” Ms. Timpf stated. “They are genuinely angry that I simply exist.” She had initially hoped pregnancy might soften their stance, but instead, she found their criticism intensified. The moment she fulfilled society’s expectation of becoming a mother, she was immediately barraged with countless other demands placed upon women who parent.
In April, Ms. Timpf shared an Instagram video to address the public commentary. “One amusing observation I’ve made since becoming a mom,” she explained, “is that if you ever post content without your baby – or heaven forbid, enjoying yourself without your baby – people immediately react with: ‘Oh my God, where’s her baby? She’s a mother!’”
In an era where traditional motherhood is increasingly presented as a lucrative public persona—essentially, a career—Ms. Timpf refuses to confine her life to such a restrictive mold. Jessica Tarlov, a Fox News Democrat and close friend of Ms. Timpf, noted, “Much of the criticism we face is undeniably sexist. Ironically, some of the most vitriolic comments come from individuals whose bios proudly display ‘Good Christian,’ ‘Lover of Christ,’ ‘Mom of four Navy veterans,’ ‘God, country,’ and then they proceed to use derogatory slurs.”
Ms. Timpf has a theory about her female critics: “I am not ladylike,” she declared. “I’m a little rough around the edges. Many women are pressured to be ladylike, yet I’ve achieved career success without conforming to that. I also have a loving husband and a child, despite not being ‘ladylike’.” Regarding her male detractors, she simply stated, “I think sometimes men just hate women.”
Kat Timpf defies easy categorization: she’s not a Trump supporter, a “tradwife,” or a conventional conservative, yet she’s also far from a moralizer. When Donald Trump appeared on her show last September, her questions included inquiries about real aliens at Area 51 and whether he’d ever host “Love Island.” Instead of outrage, she offers neurotic self-deprecation, a style that has garnered her a dedicated fan base. Gerd Buurmann, a German fan who streams the show, noted, “Her problems are problems like: ‘Oh, I farted in the office of Greg Gutfeld. What if he finds out?'” (Ms. Timpf, for the record, clarified that she has “never farted in Greg’s office.”)
Even when offering a differing viewpoint or a subtle challenge, she maintains a composed demeanor, exuding a relaxed tolerance for the often-fiery rhetoric on set. Nick Marx, an academic specializing in conservative comedy, suggested, “I think she’s there to soften the baseline misogyny of that show and that universe.” Greg Gutfeld, however, dismissed such criticism as “deeply sexist and inaccurate,” emphasizing, “Kat is on the show because of her fearless humor, intelligence and connection with the ‘Gutfeld!’ audience.”
Ms. Timpf explained that she doesn’t feel compelled to voice her disagreements with Mr. Gutfeld “every single time.” She noted, “I’ve already stated on the show that I voted third party. I’ve also clearly expressed that I see no reason to deport peaceful individuals who are working and contributing to our economy.”
However, when she has occasionally adopted Mr. Gutfeld’s approach of critiquing public figures’ appearances on air, the response has been fiercely negative. In 2023, her joke on the show that country singer Jason Aldean “looks like every guy I’ve ever seen at the bar of a Buffalo Wild Wings” sparked outrage among some viewers, who perceived it as a betrayal of the “Fox family.” One particularly incensed viewer, disturbed by the comment, declared that Ms. Timpf looked better as a blonde and vowed, “I will now not watch Gutfeld whenever you are on, which is all the time.”
‘Timpf!’
“Gutfeld!” may present itself as a late-night comedy show, but it also serves as the culmination of Fox’s daily news coverage, often transforming the network’s underlying messages into overt statements. Observing a taping last month from the studio audience’s back row, I noted the intimate setting of tufted armchairs encircling a coffee table. Greg Gutfeld commented on this, saying, “We’re in their living room, and they see us like family,” referring to the viewers at home.
Greg Gutfeld occupies the central spot in Fox’s metaphorical “den,” embodying a witty, patriarch-like figure, while Ms. Timpf sits beside him, playing the role of the quirky sibling. Tom O’Connor, the show’s executive producer, remarked, “He always laughs like an older brother would when the little sister makes fun of him.” When questioned about this sibling dynamic, Ms. Timpf pointed out the significant age gap, noting that Gutfeld, at 61, is 25 years her senior.
During the show’s opening, Mr. Gutfeld presented a series of topical jokes, often pairing current events with judgments on liberal women’s physical appearances. His targets included Hillary Clinton (ugly), Joy Behar (old), Nancy Pelosi (old), and Rosie O’Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg, and Lizzo (all described as fat), along with an obscure political science professor. As he launched into another tirade about the left’s response to the Sydney Sweeney ad, Ms. Timpf patiently waited, then dryly congratulated him for managing to label not just one, but multiple women as “fat.” “What a segment,” she stated with clear sarcasm.
“Greg is the one who selects the topics,” Ms. Timpf explained. “However, when I take the helm, the discussions shift.” Indeed, if Mr. Gutfeld is away, Ms. Timpf occasionally occupies the central host’s chair, and the show’s iconic orange “Gutfeld!” banner transforms into “Timpf!” I inquired whether her political stances and her refusal to endorse Donald Trump might limit her advancement at Fox News, and she responded diplomatically, “That’s definitely an interesting question.”
She further commented, “I believe all I can do is perform to the best of my ability in my current role. And it’s true, Fox has been very supportive.” She concluded, “After all, I do have my own audience.”
For the time being, she remains alongside Greg Gutfeld on his namesake show, continually honing her ambition. During her recovery from cancer and childbirth, she took a four-month hiatus, staying home as many of her critics had seemingly desired. “I found myself complaining to my husband about how I wasn’t accomplishing anything,” Ms. Timpf recalled.
Just weeks prior, she traveled to Wisconsin for a weekend, performing five sold-out comedy shows where she debuted new material related to her mastectomy. She observed, “There’s much discussion about women having children, but not enough about men evolving into the supportive partners women desire for parenthood.” She emphasized, “The only reason I’m content doing this is because my husband is incredible. Even without the simultaneous cancer diagnosis, it would have been incredibly difficult.”
Despite accusations from some critics, like a July X user who claimed she was “milking the cancer situation” (while tagging numerous public figures), Ms. Timpf still held back many details of her story.
At nine months pregnant, Ms. Timpf discovered a lump on her nipple while with her sister, attempting to induce labor. Her sister noticed it upon closer inspection, and doctors confirmed a breast cancer diagnosis just 15 hours before she went into labor.
During labor, she repeatedly forgot to mention her recent cancer diagnosis. The anesthesiologist appeared annoyed when she casually informed him, “oh, I have cancer,” as he administered the epidural. Following childbirth, she had a single month to recover and breastfeed her son before her scheduled mastectomy. After the surgery, her body was still healing from birth. Her newborn would cry from his crib, but she was unable to lift him for comfort, relying instead on others for assistance.
Breast reconstruction, as Ms. Timpf discovered, isn’t a single procedure but a complex series of operations. Over the coming year, she plans to have her nipples reconstructed, which will involve getting her first tattoo.
“These aren’t minor details,” Ms. Timpf asserted. “I consider them profoundly significant.” By sharing her journey on “Gutfeld!” and across online platforms, she reclaims agency over her body. Her narrative powerfully demonstrates that her professional ambition and maternal affection are just as pertinent to political discourse as any celebrity endorsement for denim.