Fox News made a glittering appearance at New York’s annual Al Smith Dinner on October 17, as several of the network’s biggest personalities gathered for one of the most prestigious charity galas of the year. Among the guests were Emily Compagno, Ainsley Earhardt, Lawrence B. Jones, Carley Shimkus, Janice Dean, Kennedy, Nate Foy, and Brian Kilmeade — all dressed to the nines for a night of laughter, music, and fundraising inside the ballroom at the Hilton Midtown.
Compagno, who shared a carousel of photos from the event, captioned her post, “All your Friends * at the Al Smith dinner 💖,” showing the Fox crew posing together in their black-tie best. Dean echoed the sentiment on her own feed, posting, “We are family!” — a fitting reflection of the camaraderie among the group that’s long been known to share more than just a newsroom.
But the highlight of the night wasn’t the dinner, the speeches, or even the photo itself — it was Brian Kilmeade’s unplanned absence from that photo. According to Compagno’s playful retelling, the Fox & Friends co-host was “too busy dancing” to join his colleagues for the group picture. She recounted between laughs that Kilmeade had “disappeared the moment the band started playing,” and when she waved him over, “he was already halfway into a swing move.”
By the time he returned to the table, the pictures were done — and the teasing began. Shimkus reportedly told him he’d “missed the shot of the night,” while Lawrence Jones joked that Kilmeade’s tuxedo had “seen more spins than a campaign rally.” Even Janice Dean joined in, joking on X the next morning that Kilmeade “danced right out of the frame — classic Brian.”
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The Al Smith Dinner, known for bringing together political, media, and religious leaders in a spirit of humor and charity, proved to be the perfect setting for the Fox team’s lighter side. Between courses of filet mignon and dessert served beneath chandeliers, the network’s stars mingled with fellow attendees and traded laughs between speeches. Foy, who joined the network in 2022, was seen chatting with Archbishop Timothy Dolan, while Earhardt and Compagno shared a toast during the live orchestra performance.
For Fox’s on-air personalities — who often appear together in high-stakes, high-pressure news environments — the event offered a rare chance to unwind. “It’s so special to be together outside the studio,” Compagno told one reporter during the evening. “We’re like family, and nights like this remind us why we love what we do.”
The black-tie affair raised millions for the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, which supports charities across New York. But for many in attendance, it was Kilmeade’s dance-floor detour that stole the spotlight. When asked about it on his morning radio show, the veteran host laughed it off: “They got a great picture — just without me. I was busy keeping the party alive. Somebody had to.”
By the time the last glasses were cleared and the orchestra played its closing number, the Fox family had turned a formal night of charity into something much warmer — a celebration of friendship, laughter, and the kind of genuine chemistry viewers rarely get to see off-camera. As Dean summed it up best in her post: “We are family — even when one of us is on the dance floor.”
