According to a Monday afternoon report, the billionaire head of Fox Corp., Rupert Murdoch, was directly responsible for firing Tucker Carlson, after the cable news network abruptly announced that it had parted ways with its most popular host.
Citing sources “familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment publicly,” The Los Angeles Times said that Murdoch himself made the decision to fire Carlson, along with some input from the Fox Corp. board of directors.
According to the report, the firing was related to a recent discrimination lawsuit filed by a former producer on his show, Abby Grossberg.
Monday morning, Fox released the following statement:
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.
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.
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.
The news network has not provided an official explanation for separating from Carlson, and did not respond to a comment request from The Tennessee Star.
As of last Thursday, Carlson’s show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” was the highest-ranked cable news show in America during any time slot, generating 2.99 million viewers at 8pm ET in the coveted 25-54 demographic.
His closest competitor from a different network was Lawrence O’Donnell, host of “Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” on MSNBC, which airs at 10pm ET nightly. O’Donnell’s show received only 1.49 million viewers.
Carlson’s head-to-head competitors in the 8pm ET time slot were CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” hosted by Anderson Cooper, and MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes,” hosted by Chris Hayes.
While Cooper’s show drew 543,000 viewers, Hayes’ show drew 1.37 million viewers.
Fox News has drawn fierce backlash for its decision to let Carlson go.
“Tucker makes news with his monologues. People talk about them. Nobody talks about Sean Hannity monologues. Fox is insane for letting that kind of cultural relevance go,” said The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh.
Tucker makes news with his monologues. People talk about them. Nobody talks about Sean Hannity monologues. Fox is insane for letting that kind of cultural relevance go.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 24, 2023
“I stand with [Tucker Carlson] and [Dan Bongino],” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05). Both Tucker and Dan are important voices revealing the truth in America today. They are true trailblazers amid a period where American corporate media controls speech. They will continue to be influential wherever they head next.”
I stand with @TuckerCarlson and @dbongino.
Both Tucker and Dan are important voices revealing the truth in America today.
They are true trailblazers amid a period where American corporate media controls speech.
They will continue to be influential wherever they head next.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) April 24, 2023
Fox lost nearly $1 billion in market capital after news of Carlson’s departure.
Notably, CNN anchor Don Lemon was also fired Monday.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Rupert Murdoch” by Eva Rinaldi. CC BY-SA 2.0. Photo “Tucker Carlson” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Fox News” by Jim.henderson. CC0 1.0.
