Tucker Carlson Announces New Show on Twitter After Fox News Firing
Tucker Carlson is bringing a new version of his defunct TV show to Twitter, after being unexpectedly fired from Fox News last month.
Carlson, 53, took to Twitter on Tuesday to share the news in a lengthy video, in which he claims that mainstream media outlets are all "thinly disguised propaganda outlets."
"Starting soon, we'll be bringing a new version of the show we've been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter. We'll be bringing some other things too, which we'll tell you about," Carlson announced in the clip. "For now, we're just grateful to be here."
"Free speech is the main right that you have. Without it, you have no others." Carlson concludes the message. "See you soon."
In the video, Carlson seemingly addresses his termination, claiming, "The most you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can. But there are always limits. And you know if you bump up against those limits often enough, you will be fired for it."
In response to the announcement, Twitter CEO Elon Musk issued a statement of his own explaining the social media platform's arrangement with the provocative firebrand.
"On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever is said. And, of course, anything misleading will get @CommunityNotes," he wrote. "I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators. Rewards means subscriptions and advertising revenue share (coming soon), which is a function of how many people subscribe and the advertising views associated with the content. I hope that many others, particularly from the left, also choose to be content creators on this platform."
Carlson was fired on April 24 -- the same day that Don Lemon was let go from CNN. Many have suspected that Carlson's ousting was connected to the Dominion lawsuit.
According to CBS News, Fox recently agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle the defamation case Dominion brought against them for claiming on-air that they helped rig the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump.
In an interview with ET, former CNN anchor Brian Stelter suggested that Fox News didn't fire Carlson as a result of the settlement, but rather because of messages that came to light amid the case.
"Some of the emails and text messages from Tucker Carlson that came out before the trial were really embarrassing, but... there were a lot of messages still being redacted for public view and I believe there's material in those private messages that was incredibly ugly," he explained. "It gave Fox a reason to remove Carlson."
The network's other reason for axing Carlson could've been due to his popularity, Stelter speculated.
"Tucker Carlson actually became bigger than Fox News, which is something Fox never likes to see happen," he said, "so in some ways they cut him back down to size today."
Carlson had been at the helm of Tucker Carlson Tonight since 2016 and had been a fixture at the network since joining as a contributor in 2009. The provocative firebrand's exit came as a shock to everyone in the network, including him.
"Colleagues of Tucker are shocked and many found out about the news like the rest of the world, on Twitter," a source told ET. "Tucker made no indication he was leaving to anyone and on Friday told everyone he’d see them Monday for a new show. People at Fox News are looking for answers as to what happened and are waiting to hear."
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