A post shared on Facebook purports a Fox News executive producer was recorded stating deceiving viewers was “the most profitable business decision they ever made.”

Verdict: False

The claim stems from a Twitter account that posts satirical content. A Fox News spokesperson said the claim is false in an email to Check Your Fact.

Fact Check:

Former Fox News employee Laura Luhn sued the network Jan. 25, alleging it had covered up and “enabled” sexual abuse she’d endured from its late chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, NBC News reported. Luhn claimed the abuse went on for decades, according to The Hill.

The Facebook post claims that a conversation picked up on an open microphone revealed an executive producer mocking their viewers’ intelligence. (RELATED: Did Fox News Publish This Graphic Showing An FBI Statement About NFL Players Collapsing?)

“BREAKING: A Fox News executive producer accidentally said on a hot mic that disrespecting their viewers’ intelligence was the most profitable business decision they ever made,” the tweet, which garnered over 15,000 likes, purports.

The claim is false. The claim stems from The Halfway Post, a Twitter account that posts satirical content. The account, @HalfwayPost, describes itself as sharing “halfway true comedy” and not “report[ing] the facts, [but] improv[ing] them” in its bio.

There are no credible news reports suggesting a Fox News executive producer made the purported remark. Likewise, the claim is neither mentioned on Fox News’ website nor on its verified social media accounts.

“This is false,” a Fox News spokesperson said of the claim in an email to Check Your Fact.

This is not the first time a satirical claim has been promoted as true online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a social media post purporting President Joe Biden’s White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain was arrested by the U.S. Special Forces for crimes regarding the 2020 presidential election.

UPDATE: The article has been updated to re-attribute the quote mentioned in the article.