Lauren Green
Lauren Susan Green (born June 30, 1958) is the Chief Religion Correspondent for the Fox News Channel.[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. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of Minnesota Northwestern University |
| Occupation | Correspondent (Fox News Channel) |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Spouse(s) | Ted Nikolis |
Early life
Green 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, then attended graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.[3][5]
Green is a practicing Christian and member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.[6]
Interview with Reza Aslan
In 2011, Green asked whether Islam "makes believers more susceptible to radicalization."[6] After a 2013 interview with Iranian-American scholar Reza Aslan (who was then promoting his new book, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth), she received considerable criticism for her questions. Green questioned why a Muslim would write about Jesus, saying, "You're a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?"[7] Aslan defended his credentials several times throughout, and clearly stated that his interest was scholarly. Green continued to press him on the same matters, clearly not taking on board anything Aslan said.
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.[8] Daniel Politi of Slate speculated that the interview was possibly "the single most cringe-worthy, embarrassing interview on Fox News [...] in recent memory."[9] Matthew J. Franck criticized Aslan for his claim of a degree in the history of religions, as he teaches creative writing and holds a PhD in Sociology of Religion rather than a degree in history.[10] In the interview, Aslan clearly stated that "anyone who thinks this book is an attack on Christianity has not read it yet."[6]
Music
In 2004, Green released an album called Classic Beauty consisting of classical piano music.[11]
Green also played keyboards for Mike Huckabee's band The Little Rockers on the Fox News Channel 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."[12]
COVID-19 pandemic
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Green advocated for churches who defied court orders to stop large gatherings.[13] 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."[14]
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."[15]
References
- "Minnesota Birth Index, 1935-2002". Ancestry.com. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
- "Opinion - Commentary from Lauren Green". Fox News. April 22, 2011.
- Lauren Green bio, FOX News Network, accessed November 8, 2013.
- http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/index.html#/v/4178198066001
- Distinguished Visitor Series: Lauren Green on YouTube, The King's College (New York), October 27, 2009, accessed July 28, 2013.
- Murphy, Dan (July 28, 2013). "Can Muslims write about Christianity?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- Paul Waldman (July 29, 2013). "Christian Identity Politics on Fox". The American Prospect. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
- 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.
- Graham, David A. (July 29, 2013). "Is Muslim Academic Reza Aslan More Biased Than a Christian Scholar?". Atlantic. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- 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".
- "This is the power of a National Day of Prayer".
- "Lauren Green: Coronavirus crisis -- Why some churches are defying bans on gathering".