Tucker Carlson at Fox News

The seemingly synonymous Tucker Carlson and Fox News Media are no longer a partnership.

On April 24, Fox News Media released a statement announcing that longtime anchor Carlson would no longer be with the network.

“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the press release said. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and before that as a contributor.”

Carlson’s last show aired on Friday, April 21. According to the press release, Fox News Tonight will continue to air live at 8pm PT/ET as an interim program led by Fox News’ rotating personalities until a new host is named.

The announcement comes after Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit over the cable channel’s coverage of the 2020 election, and a settlement far north of Rupert Murdoch’s cable channel came a day before the election. From $700 million. the trial began. Carlson was named among his own in the lawsuit texts and emails challenging President Trump’s belief that the election was stolen. The suit was filed in March 2021, alleging that Fox News’ post-election coverage promoted conspiracy theories that defamed Dominion and suggested that the company manipulated vote counts through voting machines provided for the election.

Discovery of the suit revealed incriminating statements by Carlson that showed he doubted the veracity of the “stolen election” claims, which he then repeated on the air, showing a deliberate intent to spread misinformation and defame Dominion. This discovery also revealed Carlson’s apparent hatred of former President Trump, despite seemingly being one of his closest allies with him both on air and in person.

According to a report by IndieWire, a source familiar with the matter said that Lachlan Murdoch, co-chairman of Fox News’ parent company, NewsCorp, considers Carlson “a close friend and the most important person at the network. However, the source also said that Murdoch and his family – led by patriarch Rupert Murdoch – may not be afraid to fire anyone who harms the business.”

As of March 2023, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” was the most-watched program among all cable news stations, averaging 3.3 million viewers nightly. Overall, Carlson’s show was the No. 1 cable news program in the key demo in the first quarter of 2023 (443,000 viewers 25-54).

Carlson is expected to continue her hosting career, with pundits predicting a move to The First or Newsmax. Carlson could potentially launch his own platform, similar to ousted Fox News alumnus Glenn Beck, who founded The Blaze in 2011.

Additional reporting by Christian Blauvelt and Tony Maglio.

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