Andrew Levy

Andrew L. Levy or Andy Levy (born 1966) is an American commentator and humorist.[1][2][3]

For the British musician, see Brand New Heavies.
Andrew Levy
Born
Andrew L. Levy

1966
Long Island, New York, US
Other namesAndy Levy
Alma materColumbia University (BA)
Occupation(s)Writer, television personality, commentator, humorist, producer, publicist
Employer(s)Daily Beast

HLN (TV network)
Fox News

Directors Guild of America
Known forRed Eye (talk show)

Early life and education

Levy grew up in Long Island, New York.[2][3] He attended Columbia University, where he was a member of the fraternity St. Anthony Hall and co-founded a newspaper, The Fed, with Neil Gorsuch and P. T. Waters. The Fed was a response to campus liberals.[1][3] “It had no campus visibility. It was sort of like shouting into the wind,” Levy said.[4]

Eleven credits short of his degree, Levy served in the U.S. Army from 1990 to 1993 as a combat signaler.[5][3] He was motivated to enlist for Operation Desert Storm.[3] However, Levy spent a year in the Korean Demilitarized Zone and also served at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington.[5]

After he left the army, Levy returned to Columbia University and completed his B.A. in political science.[3]

Career

After college, Levy received a grant for a year-long internship at NBC News in Washington, D.C.[3] After the internship was over, he was hired by NBC and worked there for two years.[3] Levy enjoyed the job and coworkers, but did not like Washington, D.C., and politics.[3]

He moved to Los Angeles for ten years.[3] While there, Levy was the publicist for the Academy Awards for five months. He then worked for six years as the deputy communications director with the Directors Guild of America.[2][6][3]

For three years, Levy played keyboards in the band Dalton Grant, based in Los Angeles.[7][3] He was also in a cover band, Suite 69, fronted by Dalton Grant bass player Aaron Britt and that included Dalton Grant drummer Joey Ponchetti.[5]

In addition, Levy blogged as the Cranky Insomniac.[7]

Red Eye
Main article: Red Eye (talk show)

Beginning on February 7, 2007, Levy appeared on Red Eye, the Fox News Channel late night talk show hosted by Greg Gutfeld.[2] Levy served as the show's ombudsman—a fact-checking libertarian who came out for the "Halftime Report" and the "Postgame Wrap-up" to tell the panel what they got wrong and what they missed talking about.[8][9][5] Levy also did fake news reports and later became a regular panelist and co-host on the show.[10][5] He was referred to as "TV's Andy Levy" and was known for his deadpan delivery and a catch-phase "I apologize for nothing."[10][2][11][3]

"When the show first started, there wasn't anyone more uncomfortable in front of a camera than I was," Levy said. "And I mean in the 400-year history of television. My hands were literally shaking every time I was on air."[5]

Red Eye ended in April 2017.[12] However, Levy continued to work at Fox News.[13]"

Unfiltered

In August 2017, Levy joined S.E. Cupp's Unfiltered on HLN as a panelist and senior producer.[14][15][12] He left when the show changed its format after a move to CNN in 2018.[15][3]

The New Abnormal

In 2021, Levy joined The Daily Beast podcast, The New Abnormal, as a co-host with Molly Jong-Fast.[16][17]

Twitter wars

In 2011, Levy had an infamous Twitter war with Chris Brown[18][19] When somewhat forced to make an apology to Brown, he chose the platform of Red Eye.[18] Levy said:

"`I'd like to apologize to Chris Brown and to his fans, who are known as Team Breezy. To Mr. Brown, I apologize for referencing the fact that you beat the crap out of Rihanna. It was disrespectful of me to draw attention to the fact that you put your girlfriend in the hospital. And further, it was not my place to make people remember that you beat a woman with your fists, leaving her with multiple facial contusions, a bloody nose, and a split lip.… To Team Breezy, thank you for your thousands of tweets which taught me about the creative possibilities of spelling, grammar, and syntax…In particular, I'd like to thank the female members of Team Breezy, who have taught me that as long as you can sing, you can beat the living hell out of a woman and other women will still love you. And lastly, I apologize to everyone for using Twitter to subtly address the fact it's disgusting that a guy who put his girlfriend in a hospital can, a mere two years later, be warmly welcomed back into society and appear on shows such as Saturday Night Live as if everything he did magically never happened.''[18][20]

Levy also engaged in a minor Twitter War with Adam Levine in 2011 after the latter posted his request that Fox News stop using his music.[21] Levy replied in the same format as Levine's original post, saying, "Dear @AdamLevine, don't make crappy f-king music ever again. Thank you."[21]

Levy took a seven-month hiatus from Twitter in 2018.[3] He says, "Twitter was fun at one point. ...Once it hit a critical mass of people it just started sucking."[3]

Personal life

Levy is a libertarian and occasionally takes positions that differ from conservatives and Republicans.[10][22] In 2011, he defended liberal comedian and television host Bill Maher.[23] In 2016, he said that conservatives "shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the African American community’s frustration" with the #OscarsSoWhite campaign.[22] That same year after Michelle Obama made a speech he wrote, "Seriously republicans are very lucky Michelle Obama says she has no interest in running for office."[24]

Levy has also been described as a "level-headed Trump skeptic" who is "comfortable calling out the president on his numerous mistakes."[25] In 2017, Levy took on his former employer Fox News and President Donald Trump, saying, "Fox News…have backed themselves into this corner, and now they're the Trump News Network and that's their lifeblood."[12] He continued, "The press is not supposed to be on the side of people in power ever. The press is supposed to be adversarial, the press is supposed to question, the press is not supposed to curry favor with authority."[12]

Levy has two cats, Pixel and Stormy.[26][3] He has never been married.[3] He has said, "Living your life in public is distasteful to me."[3]

References.
  1. Marhoefer, Laurie (December 1, 1999). "The History of Columbia's Oldest Student Paper: Fed Looks Back on a Millennium of Distinguished Publication". The Fed. Vol. 15, no. 5. Columbia University. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  2. Robertson, Campbell (April 10, 2007). "At 2 A.M., Dark Humor Meets the Camera Lights". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  3. Phetasy, Bridget (July 25, 2019). "Andy Levy Fears Getting A Tarot Card Reading". ricochet.com. Walk-Ins Welcome w/ Bridget Phetasy #41. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  4. Vinciguerra, Thomas (2017). "Neil Gorsuch: As a Columbia Undergrad, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch '88CC Learned How to Argue His Opinions" (PDF). Columbia Magazine. Columbia University (Fall): 26.
  5. "The Interrogation Room: Andy Levy - The Activity Pit". 2009-12-26. Archived from the original on 26 December 2009. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  6. "Miami no longer production center". South Florida Business Journal. May 30, 2002. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  7. "The Cranky Insomniac". 2008-09-22. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  8. Bunch, Sonny (April 7, 2017). "Opinion Fox News' 'Red Eye' was something rare for cable news — it was fun". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  9. Malice, Michael (2017-04-10). "Behind the Scenes of the Very Last Episode of 'Red Eye'". Observer. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  10. Red Eye's Andy Levy on News, Satire, and Political Correctness, Reason TV, Apr 28, 2015, retrieved 2022-05-27
  11. "Andy Levy's Chris Brown Apology On 'Red Eye' Most Sincere Thing Ever (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  12. Kirell, Andrew (2017-11-28). "Former Fox News Star: Fox Is Now 'Trump News Network'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  13. "Andy Levy addresses cancellation of 'Red Eye'". Fox News. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  14. Katz, A. J. (July 26, 2017). "Former Fox Newser Andy Levy to Join S.E. Cupp's New HLN Show". TV Newser. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  15. Concha, Joe (2018-08-09). "Conservative SE Cupp's 'Unfiltered' program moving to CNN". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  16. "'The New Abnormal' Hosts Molly Jong-Fast & Andy Levy Ask and Answer 20 Stupid Questions". The Daily Beast. 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  17. "The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  18. Apology outfoxes Brown TWITTER FIGHT By: Edited by ANNA BRAIN, MX Sydney, Aug 25, 2011. Regional Business News. via EBSCO, accessed May 27, 2022.
  19. Rogers, Katie (2011-08-19). "Chris Brown Twitter exchange with Fox News's Andy Levy ends with fakest apology ever". Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  20. Andy Levy Apologizes and Owns Chris Brown, retrieved 2022-05-27
  21. Perpetua, Matthew (2011-10-20). "Fox News Hosts Fire Back at Adam Levine". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  22. Bunch, Sonny (January 27, 2016). "Opinion | Why conservatives should back plans to make the Oscars more diverse". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  23. "Get over Bill Maher's Tim Tebow tweet, says Fox News' Andy Levy, 'He's a comedian – who cares?'". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  24. Scott, Eugene (2016-07-26). "Conservatives, liberals and celebrities praise Michelle Obama's speech | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  25. Soave, Robby (2017-08-23). "Watch Robby Soave on S.E. Cupp's Brand New Panel Show, Tonight at 7:00 P.M. on HLN". Reason.com. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  26. “Men With Cats Pics Less Likely To Get Online Dates.” June 25, 2020. The Five. via EBSCO, accessed May 27, 2022.
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