Tucker Carlson is out at Fox Information, ending reign of dominant conservative anchor

Tucker Carlson, the flame-throwing, conspiracy-floating, hard-right conservative information host who has dominated prime-time cable TV lately, is leaving Fox Information, the community mentioned Monday.

Fox Information delivered the shock announcement — an earthquake within the media world — six days after reaching a $788 million settlement with Dominion Voting Methods, which had sued over the position Carlson and different community mainstays performed in propagating 2020 election misinformation.

Carlson’s ultimate present on the community aired final Friday, based on Fox Information. The 53-year-old host, who had led “Tucker Carlson Tonight” since 2016, first joined Fox Information as contributor in 2009 and inked a brand new contract in 2021.

It was not instantly clear if Carlson was pushed out by the community. He’s additionally on the heart of a New York lawsuit towards Fox Information lodged by a former head booker and senior producer who charged she was subjected to sexism and hostility whereas engaged on his present.

“Fox Information Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to half methods,” the community mentioned in a detail-light, three-paragraph assertion. “We thank him for his service to the community as a bunch and previous to that as a contributor.”

Carlson, a probing questioner with a preppie model whose face typically morphs into an expression of confusion when met with opposing viewpoints, didn’t instantly remark publicly on his departure.

The 8 p.m. hour on the channel he leaves behind, now dubbed, “Fox Information Tonight,” can be hosted by a rotating crew of anchors till a brand new host is known as, Fox Information mentioned. Carlson was not given the chance to say goodbye to his viewers on the air.

[ Tucker Carlson Fox News departure cheered by critics ]

Fox Information’ father or mother firm, Fox Corp., noticed its inventory value slide sharply as information of Carlson’s exit arrived Monday morning. Because the inventory market closed, the worth was down about 3% on the day.

The disclosure got here on a chaotic, hyperspeed information day within the cable world: Lower than an hour after the Carlson bombshell, Don Lemon mentioned he had been fired by CNN, capping a 17-year run at that information large.

Carlson, an alum of Trinity Faculty who appeared on MSNBC and CNN earlier than shifting to Fox Information, has lengthy been a political lightning rod reviled by the left.

Critics have charged that he caters to racists and white nationalists. In 2020, his high author, Blake Neff, resigned after racist on-line posts Neff printed below a pseudonym surfaced.

Through the years, Carlson drew criticism for a spread of jarring feedback he made on air. He advised that immigration makes the U.S. “poorer and dirtier.” He referred to as white supremacy a “hoax.” He declared that President Biden seeks to interchange “legacy Individuals” with migrants.

“For much too lengthy, Tucker Carlson has used his prime-time present to spew antisemitic, racist, xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ hate to hundreds of thousands,” Jonathan Greenblatt, chief govt of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote Monday on Twitter.

Carlson’s behind-the-scenes conduct has additionally drawn scrutiny, and he’s named in an ongoing lawsuit from the previous Fox Information producer and booker, Abby Grossberg, who claimed he presided over an overtly misogynistic work surroundings.

The grievance, filed final month in Manhattan Federal Courtroom, mentioned that Carlson’s “derogatory feedback in direction of girls, and his disdain for many who dare to object to such misogyny,” had been well-known on the set of his present.

Grossberg, whose swimsuit additionally accused Fox of coercing testimony from her in reference to the Dominion case, issued a press release Monday saying that Carlson’s departure delivered a dose of “justice for the American individuals and for Fox Information viewers who’ve been manipulated and lied to for years.”

“It is a step in direction of accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories unfold by Fox Information, one thing I witnessed firsthand on the community, in addition to for the abuse and harassment I endured,” Grossberg mentioned within the assertion.

Grossberg can also be suing Fox Information in state court docket in Delaware. Fox Information has mentioned her claims towards the community are baseless.

Carlson’s private and non-private views on former President Donald Trump have come below explicit scrutiny in latest months. After Trump misplaced the 2020 presidential election to Biden, Carlson remained a steadfast supporter of the Republican president on air.

However in early 2021, two days earlier than the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, Carlson privately delivered biting criticism of Trump, writing in a textual content message to staffers, “I hate him passionately,” based on court docket papers disclosed within the Dominion case.

“There actually isn’t an upside to Trump,” Carlson asserted in one other textual content.

The case additionally uncovered Carlson turning his non-public fireplace towards his employer. He lampooned management at Fox Information after the community precisely referred to as Arizona for Biden within the 2020, asking in a single textual content: “Do the executives perceive how a lot credibility and belief we’ve misplaced with our viewers?”

Trump, who’s now seen because the front-runner within the Republican main for the 2024 presidential election, didn’t instantly reply publicly to Carlson’s exit from Fox Information, although the previous president, in a put up on his Reality Social platform, celebrated Lemon’s ouster.

Trump’s representatives didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon Carlson.

The prime-time host’s exit got here lower than per week after certainly one of Fox Information’ conservative pundits, Dan Bongino, mentioned he was leaving the community. Bongino mentioned he had failed to achieve a contract settlement.

Carlson had been a TV power throughout and following the Trump years. In March, his program averaged 3.3 million viewers, based on Fox Information, and was the one most watched information program on cable.

Jane Kirtley, a media legislation professor on the College of Minnesota, mentioned that she had anticipated firings after the Dominion settlement, however that she didn’t count on them to achieve so excessive within the community’s ranks.

“I believe that this isn’t the final head that we’ll see roll,” she mentioned. “I feel that Fox is making an attempt to recalibrate its relationship with the previous president, and it might be that Tucker Carlson doesn’t slot in there.”

With Joseph Wilkinson