On Monday, we were smacked with the shocking news that top-rated Conservative media host Tucker Carlson and Fox News had “agreed to part ways.”
Fox News shared a social media post stating “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.”
They added, “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 reports, Carlson’s senior executive producer also left the company.
???? #BREAKING: Tucker Carlson’s Senior Executive Producer Justin Wells has followed Tucker and left Fox News
Tucker’s not done, folks.
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 24, 2023
It would seem that the departure was not only a surprise to viewers, but to Carlson as well. In closing his popular show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Friday, he told his audience, “we’ll be back on Monday.” That’s not the signing off statement of a host who knew he was giving his last show on a network.
According to Mediaite, several sources have stated that Carlson’s departure was ‘NOT voluntary’ and that he was actually fired.
A source who spoke with Mediaite on condition of anonymity revealed that Carlson was in fact shocked by the news. “He was totally surprised,” said the source. “He had no idea.”
“It was a firing,” the source added, and Carlson “was informed today” — explaining why he had closed Friday’s show saying he’d be back Monday.
The Fox News newsroom is “in a state of shock,” the source said, confirming reporting by Mediaite’s Aidan McLaughlin that multiple sources within the network said the news “hit like a bomb inside the network, shocking even staffers close to the ex-prime time host who had no idea this was coming,” and found out not from any internal communication, but when the news broke online.
The source did not know the precise reason for Carlson’s firing, but speculated that it was “part of general housecleaning” after the Dominion settlement plus the grumbling and litigation worries from Fox News shareholders, or something related to former Fox producer Abby Grossman’s complaint that was specifically connected to Carlson.
…
Additional sources at Fox News independently confirmed to Mediaite that Carlson was ousted from the network, but also did not know a precise reason why.
Was Carlson actually fired? Was this a long time coming?
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk shared a clip of the time that Carlson appeared on his show and predicted that this would happen. He “outlined exactly what he predicted would happen to him and what was most important.”
Carlson said, “You can’t control all this stuff that’s going on…The powers that be will win. At least in the short term…Are they going to crush me? Oh yeah.”
WATCH:
Tucker Carlson once came on my show and outlined exactly what he predicted would happen to him and what was most important:
"You can't control all this stuff that's going on…The powers that be will win. At least in the short term…Are they going to crush me? Oh yeah." pic.twitter.com/MJzpwDiMGg
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 24, 2023
Last week, political commentator Dan Bongino also parted ways with Fox News following the outlet’s settlement of a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems.
