FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways less than a week after the network agreed to pay $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit in which Mr. Carlson’s show, one of the highest rated on Fox, figured prominently. He was said to be surprised by the move.
Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday, April 21st. Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named.
According to the New York Times, here is what else to know:
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In making its announcement, Fox offered a terse statement of gratitude. “Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” it said. His last program was on Friday, Fox said.
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Mr. Carlson was given no heads-up that his time at Fox News was drawing to an end, according to two people with knowledge of the timing of the conversation. The anchor was told of the network’s decision on Monday morning, and his senior executive producer, Justin Wells, was also out of a job.
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Mr. Carlson, 53, had helmed his prime-time show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” since 2016. In 2021, he signed a new deal with Fox News expanding into podcasts and a series called “Tucker Carlson Originals” for the streaming service Fox Nation.
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A Fox spokeswoman said Mr. Carlson’s show would be replaced with a new program called “Fox News Tonight” that would feature rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.
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Mr. Carlson is also facing a lawsuit from a former Fox News producer, Abby Grossberg, who claims that he presided over a misogynistic and discriminatory workplace culture. Ms. Grossberg said in the lawsuit, which was filed in March, that on her first day working for Mr. Carlson, she discovered the workspace was decorated with large pictures of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wearing a swimsuit.
FOX News Media operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Digital, FOX News Audio, FOX News Books, the direct-to-consumer streaming services FOX Nation and FOX News International, and the free ad-supported television service FOX Weather. Currently, the number one network in all of cable, FNC has also been the most-watched television news channel for more than 21 consecutive years, while FBN ranks among the top business channels on cable. Owned by Fox Corporation, FOX News Media reaches nearly 200 million people each month.
