Pets n Story

In a world where headlines scream for attention and TV screens flicker with fleeting moments of fame, one man’s quiet, heartfelt tribute to his mother has struck a chord that resonates far beyond the studio lights. Greg Gutfeld, the sharp-tongued, irreverent host of Gutfeld! and co-host of The Five on Fox News, recently poured his heart out in a moving tribute to his late mother, Jacqueline “Jackie” Gutfeld, whose influence not only shaped his career but also left an indelible mark on his audience. Known for her wit, candor, and unfiltered charm in the iconic “Ask Greg’s Mom” column in Stuff magazine, Jackie Gutfeld was more than just a mother—she was a cultural force, a muse, and a guiding light for a man who has become one of television’s most polarizing and beloved figures.

If you remember flipping through the pages of Stuff magazine in the early 2000s, chances are you stumbled across “Ask Greg’s Mom,” a column that stood out amid the glossy spreads of celebrities and scantily clad models. It was a slice of pure, unfiltered humanity—Jackie’s voice, transcribed from her meandering, often hilarious phone messages left on her son’s answering machine. “The girls in this magazine wear too little clothes,” she’d gripe, or “Why are they always bending over?” Her candid commentary wasn’t just a critique of the magazine’s aesthetic—it was a window into a woman who saw the world with “weary eyes,” as Greg once described, shaped by a life of resilience and humor in the face of hardship. The column, which later evolved into an advice feature, became the magazine’s most popular section, drawing heaps of fan mail and sparking a question that followed Greg wherever he went: “Is that really your mother?” Yes, it was. And she was every bit as real, raw, and remarkable as her words suggested.

Jackie Gutfeld, born Jacqueline Bernice Cauhape, wasn’t just a supporting character in her son’s story—she was a co-star. Raised in San Mateo, California, she faced challenges that would have broken a lesser spirit. As a single mother raising four children—three daughters and Greg—while her husband battled cancer, Jackie carried the weight of her family’s struggles with grace and grit. “She had her hands full,” Greg wrote in a poignant 2014 tribute, “and she tried to keep the worst part of the experience from all of us.” When her husband, Alfred Jack Gutfeld, passed away, Jackie lost not only her partner but also the dream of a quiet, hand-in-hand retirement that her friends enjoyed. Instead, she had her kids—and a determination to give them a life filled with love, laughter, and a touch of mischief.

That mischief found its way into Greg’s worldview, thanks to Jackie’s unconventional approach to parenting. When Greg was home sick from school, most moms might have brought home a comic book or a bowl of soup. Jackie? She brought Mad Magazine. “It was not a comic book; it was a way of looking at the world,” Greg recalled. That revolutionary publication, with its irreverent humor and satirical lens, opened young Greg’s eyes to a world where adults could be laughed at—a perspective that would define his career as a political satirist and comedian. As he grew older, Jackie introduced him to National Lampoon, blissfully unaware (or perhaps unbothered) by its risqué content. “She just sensed it might be something I would like,” Greg wrote, “and I did.” Those magazines, stacked in closets and dog-eared from countless re-reads, were more than reading material—they were the seeds of a career built on subversive humor and fearless commentary.