Briahna Joy Gray Fired from 'Rising' After Controversial Interview with Israeli Hostage's Sister Goes Viral

By Aja Norman // EEW Magazine Online

The Hill fired Briahna Joy Gray after a controversial interview where she rolled her eyes at the sister of an Israeli hostage. Gray announced her firing on social media.

Progressive commentator Briahna Joy Gray announced Friday that she has been fired from her role as co-host of "Rising," a morning news talk show on The Hill following her controversial comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Gray's firing comes after a viral incident on Wednesday in which she clashed with Yarden Gonen, the sister of hostage Romi Gonen, during an interview. Gray faced backlash for her response to Gonen, who urged her to believe Israeli women's accounts of sexual assault during the October 7 Hamas-led attack.

"I really hope that you specifically will believe women when they say they got hurt," Gonen stated, to which Gray responded with an eye roll and curtly ended the conversation with, "Okay, thanks for joining. Stick around."

Yarden’s sister Romi was taken on the morning of Oct. 7, the day of Israel’s music festival, Supernova. Romi, a dancer, expected a good time but ended up running for her life with her best friend Gaya, hiding in bushes, begging for rescue, as Hamas gunmen rampaged the outdoor party they attended.

The entire time, Romi was on the phone with her family.

Romi Gonen, who was taken captive in Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7, as they assaulted the Supernova desert rave (Photo: The Times of Israel)

After hours of hiding and the gunmen closing in, a colleague, Ben, who had also been at the party, picked them up and tried to drive off, but Ben and Gaya were fatally shot. Romi, who was hit in the hand by a bullet, was screaming into the phone saying, “I am going to die today,” according a Reuters report.

The family heard the attackers, in Arabic, saying, "She is alive, let's take her." Her phone was later traced and located in the Gaza Strip. Since that day, Romi’s family has been desperately praying and hoping for her safe return.

Yarden Gonen is the sister o Romi Gonen, a Hamas captive. (Credit: Brian Mann / NPR)

The tense interview between the hostage’s sister Yarden and Gray escalated when the journalist attempted to steer the discussion toward political aspects of a potential truce and hostage deal, which Gonen resisted. "I really see that you want to talk political things, and this is not my profession. I’m saying right now that we have an Israeli deal on the table, and we are waiting for Hamas to say yes," Gonen said.

Gray replied, "Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case; I wish that it were."

The Israeli government is currently awaiting Hamas's response to its latest proposal, introduced by US President Joe Biden. Hamas has insisted that any agreement must guarantee an end to the conflict, a condition that Israel has consistently rejected.

Gray, who has received both backlash and support, claimed her dismissal was politically motivated. "The Hill has a clear pattern of suppressing speech, particularly when it’s critical of the state of Israel," the embattled media pundit asserted.

During the interview, Gonen warned of potential future attacks similar to 9/11 if Israel did not confront terrorism, noting incendiary chants of “Death to America” at some rallies. Gray countered her viewpoint, suggesting that a "rationale" for the September 11 attacks was America's support for Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.

In a post on X announcing her termination, Gray referenced the firing of left-wing Jewish journalist Katie Halper from "Rising" in 2022 after she called Israel an apartheid state. "It was only a matter of time before they fired me," Gray wrote.

The dismissed commentator, who previously served as national press secretary for Senator Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, has used her social media presence to challenge the narrative surrounding the October 7 attacks and question the accounts of survivors. She has argued that some rape victims' reluctance to come forward casts doubt on their claims, despite reports indicating that many victims were killed during the attack.

The Israel-Hamas conflict, which began on October 7, 2023, erupted when Hamas launched a coordinated assault by land, sea, and air from the Gaza Strip into Israel. This surprise attack resulted in over 1,200 fatalities, predominantly Israeli civilians, marking the deadliest day for Israel since it declared independence. After Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel launched an intense aerial bombardment on densely populated Gaza, and then invaded with thousands of ground troops backed by tanks and artillery.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 36,700 have been killed in eight months of war.