It seems the network is tuckered out.
After a decade-plus relationship, it seems Fox News is Tuckered out. The network has cut ties with its top primetime host Tucker Carlson, even though he boasted one of the most-watched shows on American cable news.
“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the network announced Monday in a statement. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
Few likely saw this exit coming — including Carlson himself. Sources told The Wall Street Journal that he was given a 10 minute heads-up before Fox News released a statement announcing his departure. Due to the abrupt dismissal, Carlson didn’t bid a final goodbye to viewers. Instead, the host ended his last show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, on Friday, April 21 by cheerfully saying, “We’ll be back on Monday.” But he was apparently wrong.
Meanwhile, Fox News has been relatively mum about the details, other than saying it planned to resume its primetime programming without interruption, and with a few tweaks. “Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 p.m./ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named,” the network said in a statement.
The surprise announcement came just days after the network agreed to pay over $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems to avert a high-stakes defamation trial. Though sources say Carlson’s ousting wasn’t part of the settlement agreement, the conservative firebrand sharply criticized the network in private messages that were made public leading up to the case (more on that below).
A frequent figure of controversy
Since landing the network’s primetime spot in 2016, Carlson has become known for his incendiary approach — both on air and off. In 2018, several companies pulled their ads after the host stated that immigration makes the U.S. “poorer and dirtier and more divided.” A year later, several tapes were released of him on the radio show “Bubba the Love Sponge,” in which he defended child marriage and described women as “extremely primitive.”
His comments have also caused some legal troubles for the network. A lawyer representing Jan. 6 rioter Ray Epps sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding that the host apologize for insinuating that the former marine conspired with the government to instigate violence at the capitol. In response to Tucker’s departure, Epps’ lawyer, Michael Teter, said “Fox’s decision may shield them from responsibility for Carlson’s future lies, but FOX remains liable for Carlson’s past lies.”
Why is Tucker Carlson leaving Fox News?
The former anchor’s legal troubles don’t stop there: Carlson also came under fire when former producer Abby Grossberg sued Fox for discrimination and a hostile work environment. In her suit, she alleged that Carlson’s office was covered with images of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “in a plunging bathing suit revealing her cleavage,” and male colleagues openly critiqued the sex appeal of their fellow female coworkers. In what was perhaps her most explosive allegation, she also claimed Fox lawyers coached her to lie under oath and take the blame for the network’s spread of conspiracy theories about the Dominion Voting System.
A source told The Washington Post that Carlson’s sharp criticism of Fox management is what sparked the host’s departure. In private text messages revealed during the Dominion case, Carlson expressed skepticism of the network’s spread of election fraud claims and accused executives of destroying the network’s credibility. “A combination of incompetent liberals and top leadership with too much pride to back down is what’s happening,” Carlson said at the time. As of this reporting, neither party has confirmed or denied whether Carlson was indeed fired because of the Dominion case.
Still, insiders were apparently caught off guard by news that the star anchor was leaving the network. “This is major,” one unnamed on-air personality told The Washington Post. “It sends a message that even the guy with the highest ratings of all, by a long shot, doesn’t get to survive this disaster.” Another anonymous Fox staffer reacted to the split with “pure joy,” calling it “a great day for America.”
More network shakeups
Just minutes after Fox made Carlson’s departure public, rival network CNN fired longtime anchor Don Lemon, who sparked backlash in February for saying that GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley was no longer “in her prime.”
Unlike Carlson, who hasn’t commented on his ousting, Lemon announced the news on Twitter, saying he found out that he was fired through his agent. “After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly,” he tweeted.
The network disputed Lemon’s characterization of events, saying he was “offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”
Lemon and Carlson’s departures were seemingly celebrated across social media, from both sides of the political aisle. Journalist Megyn Kelly tweeted, “Good for Tucker. Trust me, he doesn’t need [Fox].” When it came to Lemon’s exit, journalist Lisa LaFlamme, who condemned his comments about Haley’s age and was rumored to have been fired from her own job in Canada for letting her hair go gray, shared this response with Katie Couric Media: “I guess he’s past his prime.”
But Fox and CNN are hardly alone in their internal drama: NBCUniversal chief executive Jeff Shell was just fired from the company after a correspondent at one of its news networks, CNBC reporter Hadley Gamble, lodged a sexual harassment complaint against him. “We built this company on a culture of integrity,” parent company Comcast wrote in a note to staff. “You should count on your leaders to create a safe and respectful workplace.”
For more on all of this wall-to-wall TV chaos, Katie caught up with Brian Steinberg, Variety‘s senior TV editor, to discuss. See their full conversation here:
