THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS
(I’ve got things to do).
- Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt celebrated their upcoming wedding Friday night at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, with the president and Melania among the guests.
- Marco Rubio, RFK Jr., Jeanine Pirro, Stephen A. Smith and a sizable contingent of Fox News personalities joined the festivities.
- Hannity made a point of saying he paid “fair market value” for the venue, while the wedding ceremony itself was scheduled for Saturday at another location.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).
When Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt decided to throw a party before their wedding, apparently a neighborhood restaurant wasn’t going to cut it.
They went with Mar-a-Lago.
And the guest list looked like someone combined a White House Cabinet meeting, a Fox News Christmas party and a celebrity fundraiser.
President Donald Trump? Check.
First lady Melania Trump? Naturally.
Marco Rubio, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Jeanine Pirro and enough Fox News personalities to fill an entire broadcast schedule?
Bring another table.
The longtime Fox News hosts celebrated their approaching marriage Friday evening at Trump’s Palm Beach estate, where friends, family members, television colleagues and political heavyweights gathered for a pre-wedding rehearsal dinner.
But Hannity wanted to make one thing perfectly clear about his choice of venue.
“We chose to host a party at Mar-a-Lago and paid fair market value for the venue.”
There you have it. The president’s club hosted the party, but according to Hannity, there was no presidential friends-and-family discount.
Hannity explained that his relationship with Trump stretches back more than three decades, and having the president participate in the festivities mattered to him and Earhardt.
“I’ve had a personal relationship with President Trump for over 30 years,” Hannity said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
He added that including Trump in the celebration had been important to the couple from the beginning.
And Trump sounded pretty excited about the whole thing himself.
Earlier Friday, while appearing with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the president told reporters he was headed to Mar-a-Lago for the celebration.
“We’re gonna go over and celebrate with Sean Hannity and Ainsley at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump announced.
“They’re doing a big, beautiful thing.”
For once, Trump’s favorite adjective wasn’t describing a ballroom, a border wall or a piece of legislation.
It was a wedding.
And quite a wedding weekend it was shaping up to be.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended with his wife, Jeanette, while Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrived with his wife, actress Cheryl Hines.
Eric and Lara Trump were also among the guests, along with Republican Sens. Tim Scott and Darline Graham.
Jeanine Pirro, now serving as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, joined the festivities as well.
And Fox News certainly wasn’t underrepresented.
Network CEO Suzanne Scott and Fox News President Jay Wallace attended, as did Earhardt’s “Fox & Friends” colleagues Steve Doocy, Lawrence Jones and Brian Kilmeade.
Considering how many familiar faces were in one room, it’s a wonder somebody didn’t break into a live television segment between the appetizers and dessert.
Then there was Stephen A. Smith.
Yes, the ESPN commentator was among the guests, along with country singer Lee Greenwood, podcast host Sage Steele, television personality Jillian Michaels and Las Vegas businessman Steve Wynn.
It’s the sort of gathering where a conversation about the wedding cake could somehow turn into an argument about the NFL, immigration policy and television ratings.
The couple’s relationship has been something of an open secret in television circles for years.
Hannity, 64, and Earhardt, 49, began dating several years ago, with their relationship becoming public in 2020.
They announced their engagement in December 2024 after Hannity proposed over Christmas at their home church in Florida.
Trump celebrated the announcement at the time, posting a congratulatory message on Truth Social.
“There are no finer people than these,” the president wrote, adding that there would be no finer couple.
Earhardt, who joined Fox News in 2007 and became a “Fox & Friends” co-host in 2016, expressed her excitement about the celebration.
“My heart is overflowing with gratitude and joy,” she said.
She described being surrounded by loved ones as a dream come true and thanked God for bringing Hannity into her life.
Hannity offered a similarly warm statement, emphasizing faith, family and friendship.
“Ainsley is an incredible person,” he said, expressing gratitude for their relationship and the people sharing in their celebration.
The couple reportedly planned to exchange vows Saturday at a location separate from Mar-a-Lago.
According to CNN, Trump was not expected to attend the wedding ceremony itself, making Friday night’s celebration his opportunity to participate in the festivities.
And Hannity’s very specific statement about paying for the venue wasn’t entirely surprising.
His decades-long friendship with Trump, combined with his position as one of the most recognizable personalities on Fox News, was bound to attract scrutiny of any event held at the president’s private club.
So Sean got that detail out there before anyone had to ask.
He paid fair market value.
As for what the Mar-a-Lago celebration actually cost, no dollar amount was disclosed in the reporting.
The evening nonetheless brought together a remarkable collection of political and television personalities to celebrate a relationship the couple had largely kept private until announcing their engagement.
Hannity has spent three decades interviewing presidents, politicians and newsmakers.
Friday night, he managed to assemble a sizable collection of them for dinner — with Trump himself joining the celebration.
Not bad for a rehearsal.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).
- Fox News — Hannity and Earhardt celebrate upcoming wedding at Mar-a-Lago
- Mediaite — Hannity says he paid fair market value for Mar-a-Lago dinner
- CNN / KESQ — Trump attends pre-wedding celebration; wedding ceremony planned elsewhere
- Page Six — Hannity shares details of his relationship with Earhardt
