Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum was visibly shaken during a live segment when a guest hurled a shocking insult at her on air. The heated exchange, which started as a spirited debate, spiraled out of control when the guest used a word that left the studio in stunned silence. MacCallum, known for her poise, didn’t hold back—firing back in a rare moment of raw emotion. The control room reportedly scrambled to contain the fallout. What exactly was said, and why did it push her over the edge? Catch the full story that has everyone talking.

The news anchor, 61, interviewed American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Tuesday on her TV channel program The Story with Martha MacCallum.

But the pair clashed almost immediately when Randi, who has been in her position since 2008, came on air to discuss a Supreme Court case about censorship rights over LGBTQ+ materials in public schools to religious parents.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority signaled support for the religious rights of parents in Maryland who want to remove their children from elementary school classes using storybooks with LGBTQ characters.

The court seemed likely to find that the Montgomery County school system, in suburban Washington, could not require elementary school children to sit through lessons involving the books if parents expressed religious objections to the material.

Martha MacCallum© Getty

The case is one of three religious rights cases at the court this term. The justices have repeatedly endorsed claims of religious discrimination in recent years.

The school district introduced the storybooks in 2022, with such titles as Prince and Knight and Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, as part of an effort to better reflect the district’s diversity.

Parents initially were allowed to opt their children out of the lessons for religious and other reasons, but the school board reversed course a year later, prompting protests and eventually a lawsuit. A decision in the case is expected by early summer.

While interviewing Randi on the topic, Martha laughed and shook her head, showing her different point of view – and the host scoffed when her guest praised a Massachusetts school district for producing “a real culture of a safe and welcoming school.”

The news anchor said, “So what you’re saying is if we can find other areas in the country where the proficiency levels are also abysmal and should be embarrassing to any education organization, then we can start to make assessments and say, ‘Oh it’s because of choice,’ or ‘Oh it’s because of money?’ We know that money doesn’t equate a better outcome.”

But Randi interrupted Martha, saying, “Martha, Martha, Martha, sweetheart, sweetheart, listen to me. It actually does.”

At that point, the host immediately snapped back, saying, “Please don’t call me sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry, my bad,” Randi replied as they continued talking and Martha later said, “I’m honestly less concerned with them being their full selves than I am with them being able to read and write and do math.

“And that is the biggest problem that we face in our schools today, and if I talk to one more teacher who tells me that they are not allowed to hold a child back who cannot read…”

Randi, who is also the former president of the United Federation of Teachers, then said, “I agree with you! I agree with you! You need both, you need both.”

Randi Weingarten© Getty

The exchange Martha had with the educator, attorney and labor leader was a topic of discussion on social media, with some people siding with the journalist and other saying calling someone “sweetheart” is not offensive.

One wrote on X, “Martha MacCallum is the best! She should give lessons on ‘setting boundaries’ to every journalist on the air.” Another tweeted, “Good for Martha!”

But a person said, “I get annoyed by controlled speech. There is nothing wrong with sweetheart, its common speech in America.

“Are we going to start dictating dialects like the woke left now? Im from the midwest where men are called boys and women are called sweetheart. Deal with it, not changing.” A viewer posted, “Martha is so lame. Is she still anti-Trump?”