Fox News Media and top-rated host Tucker Carlson have agreed to split ways, the firm announced. This comes less than a week after the media company and its parent company, Fox Corp, paid $787.5 million to resolve a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems.
Carlson was set to testify as a crucial witness in the trial centred on Fox’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged in favour of Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated incumbent Donald Trump.
Carlson’s next step is unknown. “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” his prime-time show, has been the highest-rated cable news programme in the important 25-to-54 age bracket, earning more than 3 million nightly viewers on Fox, the most-watched US cable news network.
“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” Fox News said in a statement.
Fox shares fell significantly on the news, but recovered some of their losses and were down 2.8% in active trading.
The settlement with Denver-based Dominion avoided a long trial that would have focused on Fox’s content and operations. Additional legal battles await the business, including a $2.7 billion suit brought by voting technology company SmartMatic and a lawsuit filed by former producer Abby Grossberg, who claims Fox pressured her testimony in the Dominion case.
Grossberg, Carlson’s former head of booking, accused network lawyers of forcing her to provide false testimony last month. She also said that Fox subjected her and others to sexism and misogyny. Grossberg was fired by Fox because her legal claims were “riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees.”
Tucker Carlson’s claims of manipulation
Dominion had alleged that statements made on Tucker Carlson’s show after the 2020 election were defamatory, saying messages between the media personality and his team were proof they knew that claims the company’s ballot-counting machines were used to manipulate the presidential election in Biden’s favor were false.
Filings from the Dominion lawsuit included documents that showed Carlson and other hosts discussing concerns about the network’s reputation and casting doubt on the plausibility of Trump’s claims of election fraud.
But in the immediate weeks after Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election, smaller, more conservative rivals to Fox such as Newsmax saw viewership rise as they questioned election results. Dominion alleged that Fox staff, ranging from Carlson and members of the newsroom to the board of directors, knew the statements about Dominion were false but continued to air them to avoid losing more viewers.
“For a while Fox News has been moving to become establishment media and Tucker Carlson’s removal is a big milestone in that effort,” Newsmax Chief Executive Christopher Ruddy said in a statement.
Dominion is also suing Newsmax, along with One America News, another smaller conservative media network, for making similar debunked claims as Fox about vote rigging, seeking $1.6 billion in damages from each network.
Tucker Carlson’s last program was April 21, the company said in the statement. It said that “Fox News Tonight” will air live at 8 p.m. EST starting today as an interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.
After the announcement of Carlson’s departure from Fox News, a Trump spokesperson tweeted: “Fox News is controlled opposition.” Trump gave an interview to Carlson earlier this month that aired on Fox.
Republican US Representative Lauren Boebert, who has been a staunch Trump supporter, was quick to back Carlson. “I stand with Tucker Carlson!” she tweeted shortly after the news broke.
Tucker Carlson joined Fox News as a contributor in 2009 and became a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend” in 2012. He began hosting his primetime show in November 2016. In 2021 Fox announced a multi-year deal with Carlson to provide content for its Fox Nation streaming service.
